Cable and satellite interests are sparring over an FCC-proposed hike in the per-subscriber direct broadcast satellite regulatory fee from 12 to 27 cents per subscriber. The higher DBS fee would mean "a more equitable distribution of the burden" of paying for Media Bureau regulatory staff, American Cable Association said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 16-166. But Dish Network in its own filing posted Wednesday said assertions that DBS should pay the same regulatory fees as cable and IPTV lack legal basis.
Matt Daneman
Matt Daneman, Senior Editor, covers pay TV, cable broadband, satellite, and video issues and the Federal Communications Commission for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications in 2015 after more than 15 years at the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, where he covered business among other issues. He also was a correspondent for USA Today. You can follow Daneman on Twitter: @mdaneman
Tennis Channel was "misplaced" in its focus on federal code for judicial review of FCC orders, the U.S. Court of the Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said Tuesday, rejecting the channel's petition for review of the FCC's 2015 decision (see 1501280059) not to reopen Tennis Channel's carriage complaint against Comcast. Communications Act Section 402(h) merely requires the agency to carry out court decisions and doesn't require courts to remand proceedings for further review and fact-finding if they find any agency's reasons deficient, the D.C. Circuit said in its 12-page opinion (in Pacer). It said the FCC conducted proceedings consistent with the court's grant of Comcast's petition for review, and thus satisfied its obligations.
The satellite industry still hopes for changes in the FCC spectrum frontiers draft order to give it co-primary status in the 28 GHz band with wireless 5G operators and to tackle aggregate interference issues, industry officials told us. Co-primary status has been a major issue for satellite operators (see 1606020035). Satellite Industry Association President Tom Stroup said failure to get that could have "severe consequences" for future earth station deployments.
The FCC under Chairman Tom Wheeler has been remarkably quick and responsive on making spectrum available for 5G, a differentiator that will make the U.S. the global leader in deployment, 5G advocates said Thursday during Information Technology and Innovation Foundation panel. "The U.S. is going to lead because of the FCC," said Peter Pitsch, Intel executive director-communications policy. He said South Korea, Japan and China are considering 5G trials because they and other nations are "looking at the fact the commission is moving so quickly on allocation and assignment." Qualcomm Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Dean Brenner, pointing to recent speeches by Wheeler (see 1606200044) and Commissioner Mike O'Rielly (see 1606270082), said the agency's consensus on 5G is notable "in an era when everything is partisan."
The state of Globalstar's broadband terrestrial low-power broadband system (TLPS) remains in limbo, with two FCC commissioners having yet to vote. Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said Friday he hasn't voted on or made up his mind about Globalstar. An agency official tells us likewise for Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. Commissioners Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel voted no (see 1606030041). Asked after the commissioners' meeting Friday about the likelihood of changing his vote, Pai said the Globalstar issue "involves a fundamental question: Do we want to grant special rights to a particular company to unlicensed spectrum? I think the answer should be no ... the agency has not bestowed largess upon a competitor in that space." Meanwhile, Globalstar continues to lobby the FCC on approval, with the company repeatedly talking to the agency about the possibility of opportunistic sharing of Wi-Fi channel 14 where TLPS isn't otherwise deployed. A big part of any such approach would be Globalstar's network operating system protecting the company's mobile satellite service and other services from interference, the company said in an ex parte filing Thursday in docket 13-213. Public Knowledge and the Open Technology Institute and, separately, the Wireless ISP Association pushed for that condition on Globalstar's TLPS plans (see 1606140020), and Globalstar discussed the idea at other recent lobbying meetings. The ex parte filing recapped a meeting with Chairman Tom Wheeler aide Edward Smith.
Opposition to TVEyes' appeal and cross appeal of a U.S. District Court decision in a lawsuit by Fox News Network has such bedfellows as NAB, NCTA and a variety of copyright, cable, content and broadcast interests. Multiple amici curiae briefs were filed Wednesday with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the Manhattan lower court's decision that the company's archiving function is fair use, but emailing, downloading and date/time searches aren't, and a subsequent injunction (see 1603180007). TVEyes is scheduled to file a response and reply brief by Aug. 15.
Boeing's plans for a massive V-band constellation of more than 2,900 low earth orbit (LEO) satellites makes it the latest in a small but growing number of satellite operators nosing their way into that high-frequency band, with more expected to follow, satellite industry experts told us. V-band has been discussed for years by satellite operators, though mostly for such applications as earth observation satellites, and it likely will look increasingly attractive as other satellite spectrum becomes more congested and due to the high data rates that high-frequency bands can support, said Claude Rousseau, research director at Northern Sky Research.
Ligado backers and critics have multiple suggestions for proposed conditions, including giving the Federal Aviation Administration final say on operational power levels and creating exclusion zones around airports, as the company pursues both license modifications and an NPRM for its planned LTE network. Tuesday was the deadline for reply comments on Ligado's request to modify its L-band mobile satellite service network license. Tuesday was also the deadline for initial comments on a sister proceeding seeking to allocate and auction 1675-1680 MHz for shared use with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with replies due July 21.
Numerous interstate telecom service providers and related industry groups want reform of FCC interstate telecom service provider (ITSP) regulatory fees, but there isn't consensus how. Much of the debate involves an ITTA set of proposals to reassign Wireline Bureau full-time equivalents (FTEs) to the Wireless Bureau, to combine commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) and interstate telecom service provider (ITSP) regulatory fee categories, or to create a new CMRS fee subcategory under ITSP. Monday was the deadline for comments on FCC FY 2016 proposed regulatory fees, with replies due July 5. "Whatever solution the Commission chooses, it is past time ... to rationalize the amount ITSPs pay in regulatory fees," Frontier Communications said Tuesday in docket 16-166.
The danger that zero-rating services provide an incomplete online experience is outweighed by the digital divide-bridging benefits enjoyed by low-income households and people of color from that free data, said the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council Monday as MMTC unveiled a white paper. "When you hear people saying free data will create a walled garden, when you don't have grass, a walled garden sounds pretty nice," MMTC President Kim Keenan said during a news conference. "People's budgets are real. For us to act like [that issue] doesn't exist is to shut our eyes that there will be people who can't afford to be part of the digital future."