Martin Backs Video Franchise Relief for Telcos
FCC Chmn. Martin used his first news briefing to push for deregulation of telco video to compete with cable, plus looser media ownership limits. Fiber to the home “should also be free of many regulations… and I think the Commission should act on that,” Martin said: “I am hopeful that we will be able to provide some regulatory relief.” Fiber deployments such as Verizon’s estimated $20 billion FiOS project also help boost broadband deployment, Martin said, calling broadband “the top priority for this Commission.”
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Concerns over what some Bells’ term a sluggish franchise process appeared in Martin’s remarks. Franchising was front and center at the last FCC agenda meeting, held in the Dallas suburb where Verizon began video sales Sept. 22 (CD Feb 13 p2). “There are allegations that sometimes [franchise] applications will sit for years and years” without approval, Martin said in response to our question. “There are some reasonable time limits” cities could follow in deciding whether to grant a franchise, he added. Martin shied away from specific remedies, such as a shot clock time limit. The Commission has a role in ensuring a competitive market for programming, he said: The aim is to “create a deregulatory environment for private enterprise to go out and invest in their infrastructure and provide services to consumers” at lower prices.
Martin urged hands-off on Internet issues. “Broadband is going to be the number one challenge - making sure we have an environment in place… for next generation networks,” he said, predicting a wait and see approach at the FCC on whether network owners should charge content providers to deliver data more quickly or firms like Yahoo seek to bill customers for quicker downloads. AT&T and Verizon have said that approach might make sense (CD Feb 7 p4). Cable operators may be open to similar deals (CD Feb 15 p7). The FCC will “see how the marketplace continues to evolve” and “whether or not that practice ends up being harmful to consumers,” said Martin.
Martin is waiting for commissioners to approve a media ownership rulemaking he proposed informally last summer, he said, acknowledging that may have to await a 5th Commission member. He called his proposal “a pretty neutral notice… We are going to need to open up a proceeding to ask what the rules should be.” It’s obsolete to bar TV stations from owning newspapers in the same markets, said Martin. A rulemaking could “open up all the issues that are in front of us,” he said; those could include cross-ownership and cable system limits. Some industry executives and regulatory officials expected Martin to deal with media issues piecemeal, cross ownership first (CD June 16 p4).
Martin defended last week’s welter of indecency fines, which totaled about $4 million, under intense questioning from some reporters. Broadcast executives and observers said the record fines didn’t set standards clear enough for programmers to follow (CD March 17 p1). Not so, Martin said: “I think there’s more guidance than there was before.” The Commission weighs context when deciding whether profanity triggers fines, he said: “That is actually pretty consistent with what we've said in the past.” He defended the FCC’s decision to fine a Cal. station $15,000 for airing a PBS jazz documentary too colorful to suit the Commission. “Even some of the language” in The Blues: Godfathers and Sons “wasn’t by the original blues artists but by some of the modern artists,” he said.
At the news conference, which coincided with Martin’s one-year anniversary as chmn., he said several wireline issues must be dealt with soon. One is a Verizon petition seeking deregulation of high-speed fiber services along the same line as the lessened regulation of Internet access service. Actions to “stabilize” the universal service fund’s distribution and contribution systems are also needed, he said. In answer to a question, Martin said the agency was “closely monitoring” VoIP providers’ compliance with the Commission’s order that they stop marketing in areas where they can’t offer full E-911 capability. Most VoIP companies are complying but the Enforcement Bureau is keeping an eye on a few that may not be meeting the FCC’s expectations, he said.
Martin had relatively little to say on wireless issues. He listed the advanced wireless services (AWS) auction to be held this summer and the 700 MHz auction in 2008 as top priorities. He tied both to the FCC’s goal of widespread broadband rollout. “Both of those are important components of making sure we've got a ubiquitous, wireless broadband capability,” he said. “The [700 MHz] broadcast spectrum that’s going to be returned, as a result of the hard date legislation that was passed, is some of the spectrum that can be most utilized for broadband and data capabilities.”