MetroPCS cited a suit by designated entities as a risk factor in filing last week for an IPO at the SEC. The DEs want the 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia, to overturn the 2006 advanced wireless services auction. The regional carrier filed for a $1.1 billion IPO; it will use the money to enter markets in which it won AWS licenses, it said. The auction saw MetroPCS bid nearly $1.4 billion for 8 licenses, making it a surprise among the top bidders.
The FCC Fri. referred Sprint Nextel, Alltel, U.S. Cellular and Nextel Partners to the Enforcement Bureau for what could be stiff financial penalties for the carriers’ failure to comply with an E-911 Phase II mandate that 95% of subscribers have location-capable handsets by Dec. 31, 2005. The Commission warned Verizon Wireless, Leap, Qwest Wireless and Centennial to get their systems into full compliance, but didn’t refer them to the Enforcement Bureau, at least for now. All of the orders were highly “fact specific” taking each individual company’s progress and problems into account.
Wireless net neutrality will get more focus as Congress delves deeper into net neutrality legislation. Last week’s AT&T-BellSouth merger order opened the door to further debate, as AT&T agreed to extend net neutrality protections to fixed WiMAX (CD Jan 2 p1), sources said. But the same sources also said extending similar protections to mobile broadband - such as 3rd-generation services AT&T subsidiary Cingular offers - never figured in talks between AT&T and the FCC’s 2 Democrats. Extending net neutrality to fixed WiMAX, an alternative to wireline broadband, seemed logical to the Democrats.
FCC Chmn. Martin late Fri. began circulating an order on the 8th floor on customer proprietary network information (CPNI) rules for carriers, sources said Wed. Martin promised to have an order ready by the end of 2006 (CD Dec 26 p2). A key issue is whether the FCC will impose strict rules on passwords customers must use to access CPNI data.
Democrats who won control of Congress in Nov. are poised to put tight controls on lobbying. A proposal House members will take up when they return this week would bar lobbyists or entities employing them from offering members any gifts and meals, or travel aboard company aircraft, among other provisions, according to a draft in circulation.
Many communities lag on interoperable communications, the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) said in its first national scorecard. Of 75 areas examined, only 6 got the highest DHS rating: San Diego; Columbus; Minneapolis-St. Paul; D.C.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Laramie County, Wyo. Chicago and other major metropolitan areas got much lower marks. DHS Secy. Michael Chertoff released the results Wed.
Verizon and Qwest likely will have to slash prices they charge for special access services under merger conditions AT&T agreed to last week, leading to Commission approval of AT&T’s acquisition of BellSouth (CD Jan 2 p1), sources said Wed. Verizon raised a red flag on the provision in a letter to the agency as approval was being finalized Fri. Verizon warned: “Such a condition would be subject to serious legal challenge and likely would not be sustainable.”
The FCC approved the AT&T/BellSouth merger, completing action Fri. with concurrence by Comrs. Adelstein and Copps. Staffers for the 2 Democrats negotiated a tough deal with AT&T to allow its merger with BellSouth. Most immediate reaction held that the order offered few surprises. Chmn. Martin and Comr. Tate questioned whether some conditions, especially on net neutrality, went too far. All 4 participating Commission members voiced reservations about the order.
AT&T and BellSouth late Thurs. agreed to a number of new merger conditions arrived at during dozens of hours of negotiations in recent days as talks continued over the Christmas holiday between the companies and the offices of Comrs. Copps and Adelstein. AT&T agreed to conditions on special access, net neutrality, naked DSL and the sale of 2.5 GHz spectrum that go well beyond anything in earlier offers from the Bells. With AT&T’s offer on the table the merger order is now teed up for a vote as early as Fri. (Dec. 29).
Public safety groups are likely to oppose an FCC proposal that would give DoD and other federal agencies access to 12 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum that the FCC is examining for a public safety broadband network, we're told.