Rural phone companies are starting to see investments in broadband deployment pay off in higher take rates by their subscribers, the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association said Monday. In a report based on a member survey, the group found fiber deployment gaining on DSL and wireless broadband making steady gains. Overall, 99 percent of companies responding offer broadband to some part of their customer base, compared to 58 percent in 2000, it said.
Microsoft and Philips gave the FCC extensive new test data, making the case that portable devices can operate safely in the TV white spaces without causing harmful interference. The data are based on about 1,000 measurements taken many places in New York and California.
An FCC decision on opening the TV white spaces to portable devices appears increasingly likely to slip past October, sources said Thursday. Meanwhile, members of the White Spaces Coalition are preparing to submit additional data to the FCC. The Office of Engineering and Technology may do additional testing of white spaces devices.
The U.S. Appeals Court, San Francisco, found for AT&T Wireless and against Paul Lozano, a customer seeking to bring a class-action suit against the company. Lozano claimed AT&T Wireless billed customers for cellular phone calls during a billing period other than that during which the calls were made. In out of cycle billing, as the practice is called, when AT&T Wireless learns of a roaming call after a customer’s monthly billing cycle ends, it bills for the call next cycle; this may put a customer over that cycle’s allotted minutes, the court said. “According to AT&T Wireless, out-of-cycle billing occurs infrequently, and when it does occur, it is just as likely to result in a reduction in fees as opposed to an increase,” the court said. Lozano appealed district court denial of a nationwide class for his claims under the Communications Act and for declaratory relief. AT&T Wireless appealed the court’s certification of a California-only group of plaintiffs under the state Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA) and California Unfair Competition Law (UCL). The court denied Lozano’s appeal, reversing the lower court grant of class certification on Lozano’s UCL and CLRA claims. A wireless industry attorney said Thursday that the decision is “modestly interesting, but not terribly important.”
AT&T warned that the FCC is on perilous legal ground in approving rules for E-911 location measurement before it wrapped up a broader rulemaking. Carriers are widely expected to challenge the Sept. 11 order in federal court (CD Sept 11 Special Bulletin). Carriers were upset last week when the FCC established a five-year deadline, with benchmarks, for measuring success in locating wireless E- 911 callers at the public safety answering point (PSAP) level rather than using statewide averaging. The FCC action was stage one of a two-part E-911 rulemaking, which focused on measurement standards. Reply comments in the next phase, looking at broader E-911 issues, were due this week.
The FCC sought comment on proposed service rules for the 2155 to 2175 MHz band, the spectrum that had been sought by M2Z and NetfreeUS. Several options for the spectrum are possible, it said Wednesday, including an auction that would be the third in a series for advanced wireless services (AWS). Industry officials said they were reviewing the rulemaking.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said Wednesday that emergency alerts on cellphones should target smaller areas than just counties. Martin briefly attended a meeting of the Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee and urged the group to give that issue special attention as it prepares to vote on a final report to the commission.
XM and Sirius seem on target to complete their merger by the end of 2007, XM Chairman Gary Parsons said Tuesday at a Goldman Sachs investors conference. One surprise has been the companies’ ability to line up consumer interest groups behind the merger, he said.
The odds have improved that regulators will approve the XM Sirius merger, agree analysts covering the satellite industry. Little has changed since the merger was announced in February, mostly to negative reviews by Wall Street, analysts said. The Department of Justice has been tight-lipped on its review. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has said little indicating support or opposition to the merger. The biggest related development has been a federal judge’s refusal to block Whole Foods’ purchase of Wild Oats -- a merger the FTC opposed.
Comments by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin on two issues - probable creation of a commission panel on early termination fees and opening the TV white spaces to use by portable devices - have prompted a flurry of activity at the agency. Various players are eager to set up meetings to drive home their well-developed positions. Martin dropped a few hints Tuesday during a brief session with reporters in the commission meeting room.