Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Robert Nelson, Mich. PSC comr., appointed to serve on Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, replacing Nan Thompson, comr-Regulatory Commission of Alaska… Michael Balmoris, ex-FCC, joins SBC as exec. dir.-public affairs… Reed Harrison, ex-AT&T, becomes pres.-COO, Cogent Communications… Howard Schrott, Liberty Corp. CFO, elected to Time Warner Telecom board… Ted Harbert, ex-20th Century Fox TV, becomes CEO of E! Networks.

FCC Media Bureau Chief Kenneth Ferree told a group of communications lawyers that there are several issues in the media ownership decision by the 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia, (CD June 25 p1) that could warrant Supreme Court scrutiny. Ferree stressed that the Solicitor Gen.’s Office, in consultation with the FCC’s Gen. Counsel, would ultimately make the decision on whether to appeal to the Supreme Court. He also said he had not yet consulted with the commissioners on whether the agency wanted to seek certiorari or take another course. But Ferree told a meeting of the Federal Communications Bar Assn.’s Mass Media Practice Committee that he did feel it was ripe for review. He said it wasn’t a perfect case, “but not a bad one” for the high court, given a number of inconsistencies and potential problems he sees in the ruling.

Verizon Gen. Counsel William Barr, a former U.S. attorney general, warned in a letter to the FCC late Mon. that commissioners could open themselves to criminal prosecution if they sided with Nextel on its 800 MHz rebanding plan. The letter also argued that the FCC has no legal authority to expend federal dollars to support the relocation costs of public safety agencies or companies like Nextel.

Telecom carriers generally supported a Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) request that the FCC not make service outage reports public because the information could help terrorists and other bad actors. DHS on June 2 told the FCC it “strongly believed” the existing practice of sharing outage information publicly should be changed: “Whatever merit this approach may have had when the outage reporting rules were first adopted, the threat environment following Sept. 11, 2001, dictates that appropriate steps be taken, consistent with law, to safeguard sensitive information like that included in the outage reports, which could jeopardize our security efforts if disclosed to inappropriate recipients.”

Judges of the 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia, Thurs. remanded FCC’s major rules for cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations and the concentration of broadcast ownership in local markets. The court said the FCC should fix flaws in its diversity index, which it used to determine the new local cross-ownership rules.

House Commerce Committee ranking Democrat Dingell (Mich.) urged the FCC to reject “immediately” an AT&T petition asking that its enhanced prepaid calling card services be classified as interstate information services. In a letter to FCC Chmn. Powell last week, he expressed concern that “until the Commission acts, AT&T will continue its apparent practice of improperly withholding payments it should be paying into the Universal Service Fund (USF), as well as withholding appropriate payments of intrastate access charges.” In a petition filed more than a year ago, AT&T asked the Commission to rule that its “enhanced” prepaid calling card services were “interstate communications subject to interstate, rather than intrastate, access charges.” It also argued that services were information, rather than telecom services, because calling card users heard recorded ads when placing calls. Dingell called the claims absurd and said he was “troubled by the implications of the relief AT&T seeks.” He said ruling in AT&T’s favor would “upset the present balance which permits lower consumer phone rates,” because the company sought to “avoid its obligation to pay lawful intrastate access charges… on calls in which the calling and called parties are located within the same state.” He also urged the Commission to reject AT&T’s claims that its prepaid calling card services were information services, saying that granting such claims would “only free AT&T of any obligation to contribute to the USF in connection with these services” and create an “enormous loophole for other carriers to avoid supporting universal service.” Consumer Federation of America (CFA) Research Dir. Mark Cooper said in an interview CFA was “concerned” about AT&T trying to avoid paying access charges and USF contributions. “The FCC should make sure that everybody who benefits from the public switched network should make fair contributions to recover costs” of maintaining it, he said.

The RIAA unveiled its plan to seek content protections at the FCC to thwart widespread piracy of music transmitted over the emerging in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio (DAB) services, in FCC comments.

Low demand for broadband services has emerged as one of the “major challenges” for U.S. policy, FCC Wireline Bureau Deputy Chief Carol Mattey told a panel sponsored by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) Thurs. in Washington. She said while 80% of the U.S. population had access to broadband, only 20% of households subscribed: “A key question for the U.S. policy is why so many people that have access to broadband in the United States have chosen not yet to subscribe.” The panel focused on policy and regulatory developments in Japan and the U.S. as they affect broadband deployment

Reaction was generally positive to the FCC’s adoption Thurs. of new band plans for the wireless, educational and satellite industries. “The hard work by the Commission and relevant stakeholders will lead to huge benefits for the public in receiving advanced wireless services under flexible use conditions, whether the user seeks mobile, portable or fixed services as optimal,” said Wireless Communications Assn. (WCA) Pres. Andrew Kreig.

The U.S. Solicitor Gen. (SG) announced Wed. he won’t appeal the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., ruling that vacated a significant part of the FCC’s Triennial Review Order (TRO) -- raising questions about whether the high court will take the case and what will happen to the telecom market. The appeals court decision, effective June 15, would nullify key FCC UNE rules, including those that permit competitors to gain UNE-P access to Bell facilities at TELRIC-based prices.