FCC staff finds against new pricing option
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(WASHINGTON) -- Federal regulators said a proposal to allow cable TV subscribers to pay only for channels they want wouldn&#39;t reduce their cable bills.
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By C. Eugene Emery Jr.; Journal Staff Writer  Selectmen oppose a state proposal that would let Verizon compete with Comcast without first negotiating with the town.
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Blog: Large Webcasters and the music industry are butting heads over a compromise to heightened fees that would require Net radio operators to implement anti-streamripping technology.
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Federal regulators took issue Friday with consumer groups that contend that allowing cable television subscribers to pay only for channels they want would lower consumers&#39; cable bills.
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After tossing Wi-Fi start-up bids for exclusive control of fallow spectrum, federal regulators want public input on how to proceed. Will a new fight over "open access" rules emerge?
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The federal appeals court  here on Thursday rejected webcasters&#39; request to postpone  implementation of a new royalty rate for music they air over  the Web.
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InfoWorld - Verizon Wireless has encountered strong opposition for its request that an appeals court overturn U.S. Federal Communications Commission auction rules on a portion of wireless spectrum.
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(InfoWorld) - Verizon Wireless has encountered strong opposition for its request that an appeals court overturn U.S. Federal Communications Commission auction rules on a portion of wireless spectrum. Verizon Wireless, in a brief filed Monday, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review the FCC's decision to require so-calledÂ open-access rulesÂ on about a third of the 62MHz of spectrum in theÂ 700MHz band scheduled to be auctioned in January. The FCC voted in July to require that the winner of 22MHz of spectrum allow any wireless devices to connect to the network, meaning wireless telephone customers could bring their handset devices from other carriers. The FCC also prohibited the winning bidder on the 22MHz block of spectrum from blocking or slowing wireless and Web content from competitors. Those rules are "arbitrary, capricious, unsupported by substantial evidence and otherwise contrary to law," Verizon Wireless said in its brief. Verizon spokeswoman Debra Lewis said the company will let the brief "speak for itself." Media reform group Free Press, a supporter of the open-access rules, accused Verizon Wireless of sending "lawyers, FUD and money" in an attempt to overturn the FCC's decision. The FCC's open-access rules were a "small step on the long road to breaking up the anticompetitive, anticonsumer oligopoly that controls almost every level of the wireless marketplace," Free Press said in a statement. Frontline Wireless, another supporter of the open-access rules, said in a statement that Verizon's lawsuit "throws a wrench into the auction to promote competition and innovation for consumers." Google also criticized Verizon's lawsuit. The open-access rules are "a big step for consumer choice and competition," Chris Sacca, Google's head of special initiatives, wrote on Google's public policy blog. "Apparently, one of the nation's major existing wireless carriers doesn't think consumers deserve more choices." The wireless spectrum is a valuable public resource, Sacca added. "The nation's spectrum airwaves are not the birthright of any one company," he wrote. The 700MHz spectrum is being abandoned by U.S. television stations after Congress has required them to move from analog to all-digital broadcasts by February 2009. Many tech, broadband and wireless vendors are eyeing the spectrum for next-generation wireless and broadband services; wireless signals can travel about four times farther in the 700MHz band as signals in higher bands. Many groups calling forÂ net-neutrality laws for broadband providersÂ have suggested that the 700MHz band is the best chance in the coming years for a third broadband service that competes with cable and telecom providers. The open-access rules, similar to net-neutrality rules, could help foster a third competitor, but many open-access supporters wanted the FCC to also require the winning bidding to provide wholesale access to competitors at wholesale prices. Verizon Wireless and other critics have suggested the open-access rules will limit the options for the spectrum. The rules could drive down the price the U.S. government gets for the spectrum, and they could discourage the winning bidder from rolling out innovative new services on the spectrum, critics have said.
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Time Warner Cable plans to test a new price plan that would limit how much customers can download.
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Letting cable TV subscribers pay for only the channels they want won't reduce the cost for most, federal regulators told Congress in a report released Friday. Consumer groups immediately attacked the study as flawed.
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Chairman Kevin Martin supports open spectrum access. The catch is that the spectrum auction rules being floated make it unlikely an open network could ever actually be built.
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Blog: Some Webcasters say they're encouraged by recent offers by the record industry group charged with collecting higher fees--including a potential reprieve for some smaller online DJs.--but nothing's set in stone yet.
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Verizon Wireless Inc. has encountered strong opposition for its request that an appeals court overturn U.S. Federal Communications Commission auction rules on a portion of wireless spectrum.
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Bidding remained stalled Tuesday on  a key piece of spectrum in the U.S. government's wireless  airwaves auction, prompting concern regulators will have to  modify rules requiring some of it be shared with public safety  agencies.
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After tossing WiFi start-up bids for exclusive control of fallow spectrum, federal regulators want public input on how to proceed. Will a new fight over "open access" rules emerge?
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Blog: New fees don't appear to have stopped many Webcasters from silencing their streams yet, but they're still counting on a formal compromise with the music industry.
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A divided Federal Communications Commission passed rules Wednesday restricting local phone competition. The move is expected to raise prices for many consumers across the country and for small businesses in larger cities.