The FCC acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in allowing an improperly filed American Public Communications Council complaint against NetworkIP to proceed, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said. The decision’s overall effect is that NetworkIP no longer must pay a significant part of a sum the FCC said it owes three payphone providers for calls made using NetworkIP calling cards, said an official familiar with the case.
Four members of the FCC pledged to work together on broad intercarrier compensation and Universal Service Fund reform, for a vote at the Dec. 18 FCC meeting. The four cited growing consensus on several issues teed up for decision, in a statement they all signed. But FCC Chairman Kevin Martin questioned whether his colleagues will really be ready to reach a decision in December. The letter was released just before midnight Wednesday, as the FCC responded to a writ of mandamus by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit addressing the so-called ISP remand (CD Nov 6 p1).
The FCC, in an order that was to be released late Wednesday, addresses the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s ISP remand by providing additional justification for the original 2001 ISP-bound traffic rule, without changing compensation rules overall, we were told. The decision is a loss for Core Communications, which challenged the FCC rules in federal court and has asked that its rates be increased to state reciprocal compensation rates, two to three times higher than the $.0007 rate. It’s considered a positive development for incumbent local exchange carriers who opted into the $.0007 payment rule and wireless carriers who have entered into contracts to terminate traffic at that rate under the mirroring rule.
The FCC likely will have busy months ahead, even with pending changes at the agency with the likely departure of Chairman Kevin Martin as early as January. Unless Martin stays on, the FCC will be left with only three commissioners at the end of January -- Democrats Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein and Republican Robert McDowell. Martin likely has only one more regular meeting over which to preside, scheduled for Dec. 18.
Cyren Call warned the FCC in a filing that it can’t stay on as adviser to the 700 MHz Public Safety Trust unless the commission decides how Cyren Call will be paid. Meanwhile, the PSST said implementing rules proposed for the 700 MHz D-block national public safety network would put too great a limit on its role in protecting the interests of users nationwide. It asked for enough money to pay debts it has piled up, including to Cyren Call.
The FCC approved Verizon Wireless’ acquisition of Alltel and the Sprint Nextel-Clearwire WiMAX partnership, in an Election Day meeting that started hours late. But commission members expressed continuing concerns about the Verizon deal’s effect on wireless competition nationwide.
The FCC approved Tuesday an order opening the TV white spaces for use by unlicensed portable devices. The action followed a long fight between major high-tech companies and broadcasters. The order takes what a commission official called a “cautious” approach that offers broadcasters and other 700 MHz incumbents protections from harmful interference. The vote came after a four-year examination by the FCC of the future use of the white spaces.
The FCC will investigate all allegations of white spaces interference if it approves rules opening the TV white spaces to unlicensed mobile devices, Chairman Kevin Martin assured House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich. Approval is expected Tuesday. Martin defended as proper the procedures the agency followed in its peer review of an Office of Engineering and Technology report on white spaces interference. Martin filed the responses Friday, answering an Oct. 24 letter from Dingell.
The FCC seems near agreement on imposition of roaming extensions on Verizon Wireless as a merger condition following the carrier’s acquisition of Alltel. The merger is set for a vote Tuesday, though discussions continue at the FCC. The key issue is how long Verizon Wireless extends roaming agreements small carriers primarily have with Alltel after the merger is finalized. Verizon Wireless agreed to a two-year extension to win Department of Justice clearance of the merger.
Executives of the Association for Maximum Service Television opposed the FCC’s proposed white spaces order at a Friday morning meeting with legal advisers for the five commissioners, FCC sources said. David Donovan, MSTV’s president, Victor Tavil, senior vice president, and Bruce Franca, vice president, spoke for the group. Catherine Wang, an attorney for Shure, represented the wireless microphone maker. The business representatives objected to power levels in the proposal being considered by the FCC and recommended how the agency should approve and certify white spaces, said an official who attended the meeting. Walter Liss, president of ABC-owned TV stations, raised a single question for the FCC in a letter sent to commissioners Friday: “Are you really prepared to authorize millions of unlicensed/portable devices in the TV band based on the hope that none of them will ever break and cause untraceable interference to consumer TV reception?” Robert Reymont, co-chair of the Arizona Emergency Communications Committee, said in a letter to the FCC that the commission’s white-spaces proposal raises basic public-safety questions. “In the past year, Arizona people have depended on the Emergency Alert System and local broadcasters to warn them about such life threatening- emergencies as flash floods from broken levees to hazardous materials spills to severe weather to AMBER Alerts,” he said. “But if interference from ‘white-space devices’ degrades television reception our residents and visitors won’t be able to depend on local broadcasters for this critical information.”