The FCC shouldn’t mandate physical elements of outputs for HD set-top boxes or specifications for remote-control signaling as the regulator considers an order on CableCARDs, said a maker of chips for the boxes. “Establishing a simple requirement for IP-based outputs provides for choices in layer 1 and 2 technologies and the opportunity for continued experimentation and innovation in higher level application layers” that include remote-control commands, Entropic Communications said in a filing Thursday in docket 97-80. Chief Technology Officer Tom Lookabaugh met with Chief Paul de Sa of the Office of Strategic Planning, the filing said.
A proposed law mandating FM chips in cellphones won support from the International Association of Audio Information Services. The association, representing audio info services for the blind and disabled, said the chips would be useful in emergency situations. And consumers would always have fast access to local news, it said. “Having this capability built into devices that are already being used by people with disabilities brings them one step closer to equality and independence,” said David Noble, IAAIS government relations committee chair. “And, because local radio stations are free, a disabled person, who typically makes less than his or her nondisabled peers, won’t have to buy a smart phone and add an expensive monthly data plan."
The U.S. is unlikely to have a government-required radio transition to digital from the analog broadcasts that still predominate -- or at least at no time in the foreseeable future, some FCC and industry-engineer panelists said Thursday. One reason there hasn’t been a rapid switch by stations to HD Radio and away from analog transmissions is that, unlike with last year’s digital transition for full-power TV stations, there’s never been a “date-certain” for radio to go digital-only, said Senior Vice President Glynn Walden of CBS Radio, with about 130 stations. “These things don’t happen overnight” as effectively occurred for TV, he said at the NAB Radio Show in Washington.
Requiring FM chips in cellphones is a “great idea,” Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., told the NAB radio show Wednesday. The retiring member of the House Commerce Committee also reemphasized his support for a commercial auction of the D-block and opposition to legislation imposing performance royalties on broadcasters. Earlier, departing Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, said he doubted Congress would take up either the DISCLOSE Act or performance royalty legislation any time soon.
The radio industry hasn’t reached agreement yet on whether the NAB should put its weight behind a possible deal with music labels that would cut streaming fees in exchange for the U.S.’s first terrestrial broadcast performance royalty, many industry executives and lawyers said. They said agreement among broadcasters on outlines of an accord with MusicFirst, first publicized by the NAB Aug. 6, doesn’t appear imminent. Some music and radio executives had hoped to reach a deal that included mandating FM chips on all cellphones by the time Congress returned from summer recess. With this Congress in its waning days, there may not be time to pass any legislation this year even if a deal is reached, some broadcasters said.
A rulemaking paving the way for the FCC to auction TV stations’ spectrum for wireless broadband use and give part of the proceeds to the affected broadcasters won’t be approved until after the deadline envisioned by the commission in its agenda to deliver on the National Broadband Plan. The plan called for action this quarter on an item on “broadcast TV spectrum innovation” that would seek comment on proposals to increase spectrum efficiency and innovation (http://xrl.us/bhf9kj). Instead, Chairman Julius Genachowski is expected to circulate in Q4 a rulemaking notice that could be voted on at the November or December FCC meetings, agency officials and industry executives said. The FCC has missed several other deadlines in the agenda (CD Sept 1 p1).
"Demonstrated demand for radio-capable cell phones” and the medium’s role in emergencies should be taken into account as debate continues on whether Congress should mandate that carriers include analog FM chips in all wireless devices, NAB board members wrote key legislators. Responding to a letter from wireless companies opposing any deal between terrestrial broadcasters and music labels (CD Aug 24 p1) that includes an FM chip provision, NAB Joint Board Chairman Steve Newberry and radio board Chairman Caroline Beasley said, “Americans deserve better choices than what is being offered by gatekeeper mobile service providers.” The WARN Act, which became law almost four years ago, “established a process by which cell phone providers volunteered to devise a system for reaching their subscribers during times of emergency,” they wrote the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees Monday, http://xrl.us/bhzux8. “The cell phone industry’s answer to date has been a text-based system limited to 90 characters, which has still not been deployed."
Google is a “serial offender” that is violating copyright law, other companies’ patents and the privacy of the public, Precursor CEO Scott Cleland, a longtime critic of the company, said Thursday in a hearing by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy. But much of the focus of the hearing was on the broader issue of whether recent developments like Apple’s launch of its own mobile advertising network, iAd, after it bought mobile ad network Quattro Wireless, are moving too fast for antitrust law to keep up.
The TV white spaces will play a key role in communications once devices are made available, most likely next year, said speakers at a New America Foundation panel Wednesday. The discussion comes with several fine points in the FCC’s white spaces order, scheduled for a vote at the Sept. 23 commission meeting, still potentially in play. The order finalizes the proceeding, after the FCC approved the use of the white spaces for accessing the Internet in November 2008. The agency is expected to cut off further lobbying when it releases the sunshine agenda on next week’s meeting Thursday.
Most U.S. adults would listen to radio on their cellphones and also consider paying a one-time fee of 30 cents for that ability, about the cost of an analog FM chip, said a survey by Harris Interactive released Tuesday and sponsored by the NAB. Its members are considering a possible deal on performance royalties with music labels that would ask Congress to require all cellphones to have such chips, an idea which has opposition from the consumer electronics and wireless industries (CD Aug 16 p5). Among 2,587 surveyed online Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 76 percent said they'd consider paying the 30 cents, and 66 percent said they'd use a radio built into a cellphone. “Young people seem especially enthusiastic about this additional function that they would always have in their pocket,” said Harris Vice President Aaron Heffron. NAB believes the survey shows “convincingly that there is significant demand for radio-capable cellphones,” a spokesman said. But a chip requirement is wrong, said CTIA Vice President Jot Carpenter. “FM capability is available today for consumers who want to access over-the-air radio on their mobile devices,” he said. “Contrary to NAB’s self-interested assertions, a majority of consumers do not want that capability, and the notion that they want to pay more for a functionality they do not want is ridiculous.” The CEA does “agree with the NAB that some consumers may want phones with FM receivers -- and they can have them, since numerous models of radio-equipped phones are already on the market,” CEA President Gary Shapiro said. “But NAB forgot to ask they key question: Do consumers really want the government to design their phones and require features?"