Howard Buskirk

The 8th U.S. Appeals Court, St. Louis, handed wireless carriers what CTIA characterized as a “major victory,” overturning a Minn. law that prohibits the companies from changing the terms and conditions of subscriber contracts that “could result” in higher rates or an extended contract term, without consent from the subscriber. The case pitted Verizon Wireless, Sprint, T- Mobile and other carriers against the state of Minn. “We have always maintained that state regulation, like that in Minn., imposes unnecessary costs upon the delivery of service and limits choice, thus not benefitting the wireless consumer,” said CTIA Pres. Steve Largent. “The court’s ruling that Minnesota’s statute is ‘impermissible rate regulation preempted by federal law’ is proof that consumers risk higher costs when states attempt this type of command-and-control regulation.” A spokeswoman for Minn. Attorney Gen. Mike Hatch said: “We have reviewed the decision. We have not decided what the next step is.”

Verizon Airfone said Mon. if the FCC holds an auction of 800 MHz spectrum for air-to-ground (ATG) use in early 2006, the company can offer inflight wireless Internet access in 2007. Airfone turned up the heat on the FCC to set an auction date after the Commission released Fri. an order tying up the loose ends that had to be addressed before an auction could take place (CD Dec 12 p1).

Alltel’s spinoff of its wireline assets, which are being merged with Valor, is expected to face few regulatory hurdles at the FCC or Justice Dept., analysts said Fri. But Stifel Nicolau warned that mergers may face increasing scrutiny as consolidation continues. Alltel officials said they hoped regulatory approvals will be completed by late spring or early summer.

A self-deprecating FCC Chmn. Martin came up with some edgier barbs than some were expecting Thurs. night at the FCBA Chmn.’s Dinner. Martin poked fun at the famously tentative nature of many of his appointments. Talking about the recent birth of his first child, Luke, Martin joked: “I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Luke is currently our acting interim son.” Martin joked that parenting has proven tough. “It’s very odd how some things that work so well for me as chairman just don’t seem to work for me as a father,” he said. “The other night I just couldn’t get Luke to stop crying. I was so frustrated. I finally said ‘Luke, if you don’t stop crying, I'm going to going to reassign you to CGB.'” Several sources suggested that comment was probably wasn’t so funny to FCC staffers moved to the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau. Martin made fun of criticisms that his decisions have been based on politics. “Last week one reporter wrote that every decision I make is political,” he said. “Now that one really bothered me. I mean all 12 focus groups said if we had a baby that would insulate us from that criticism.” He also made light of criticisms that the Martin FCC has been a closed shop, with staffers fearful of talking to journalists. “One reporter even claimed that not one piece of paper gets out of the Commission without my personal approval,” he said. “That’s not true. There have been exactly 5 pieces of paper. All of the people responsible have been dealt with.” Martin closed with a list of reasons it’s fun to work at his FCC. The top reasons: “(3) Plenty of time for golf because there’s no need to work on wireless issues. (2) Trips to Siberia not limited to the International Bureau. (1) KGB-like atmosphere grows on you after a while.” Earlier, Martin was “roasted” by former NAB Pres. Edward Fritts, former FCC Chmn. Richard Wiley and AT&T Senior Exec. Vp James Cicconi. “I was asked to do a real roast of FCC Chmn. Martin,” said Wiley: “Like, right - I'm going to do that.” Comparing Martin’s youthful looks to Harry Potter’s, Wiley said Martin was the only associate Wiley, Rein & Fielding ever hired “directly from grade school.” Ex-NAB Pres. Eddie Fritts said Martin “is so young that when he showed up late for work one day, local broadcasters located him by issuing an Amber Alert.” Fritts added, in staccato delivery: “Kevin is the only public official with an open invitation to the Neverland Ranch. Kevin is an indecency hawk but we wonder about his credentials, since he’s never been admitted to an R-Rated movie.” Cicconi riffed on Star Wars comparisons, since Martin’s son shares a first name with Luke Skywalker. “Is it me or is [Chief of Staff] Dan Gonzalez looking a little like Yoda these days?” Cicconi asked.

The National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) Board approved the “interim” VoIP architecture for E-911, as i2. NENA said adoption of the interim standard is a “migratory step” toward a more long-range solution under which all E- 911 will be IP-based. One VoIP operator source said the development provides “further stability” for the industry. Patrick Halley, govt. affairs dir. at NENA, said the plan provides the basic standard for “how you connect an IP- enabled voice service into the legacy 911 system, which is all analog, circuit-switched technology.” Many VoIP providers have already adopted parts of the standard as they developed plans for complying with FCC requirements they make their systems E-911 compliant, and now they may be more likely to adopt the entire standard, Halley told us. Most of the leading VoIP providers and all the major VoIP position companies like Intrado participated in development of the standard, he said. Halley predicted that parts of the emergency system will be modernized quickly. “In the near future a lot of the stuff we're talking about can be implemented,” he said. “NENA’s vision since the development of the 911 Future Path Plan in 2001 has been, and continues to be, to modernize E- 911,” said Billy Ragsdale, chmn. of the NENA Technical Committee: “The interim solution standard is the first major step to support VoIP E-911 and to redesign E-911 for present and future needs.”

Only part of Cingular’s network integration with AT&T Wireless is done and the work probably will continue through 2006, Cingular CEO Stan Sigman said during a BellSouth presentation to analysts Tues. Cingular closed the AT&T Wireless merger in Oct. 2004. Sigman also announced that Cingular has launched its HSDPA-based 3G service to 52 communities in 16 markets.

Verizon confirmed Mon. it’s seeking a buyer for its directories publishing unit -- Verizon Information Services (VIS). Based on some reports, the division could be worth 10 times EBITDA or $17 billion, the biggest such deal recorded. Verizon didn’t discuss potential value in a press release.

ANNAPOLIS -- The ITU and its World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC), scheduled to convene next in 2007, should be refocused to better address the needs of industry for direction in some areas, while avoiding other areas where an extended WRC debate would do little good, said Mike Goddard, dir.-spectrum policy & international for the U.K.’s Ofcom and a leading candidate to chair the 2007 meeting. Veena Rawat, chmn. of the 2003 WRC, agreed, telling a Defense Spectrum Summit dinner Thurs. night that WRC must change to take into account industry convergence.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- NTIA will oversee testing this month that will help bring online 255 more MHz of spectrum in the 5.470-5.725 GHz band for unlicensed use via dynamic frequency selection (DFS), NTIA Dir. Michael Gallagher told the Defense Spectrum Summit, which started here Mon.

The Justice Dept. released remedy merger guidelines late Thurs. holding explicitly that structural remedies, including the sale of assets, are preferable to “conduct” remedies. Several attorneys with antitrust and telecom expertise were reviewing the guidelines Fri. The release comes as the Dept. nears the release of its order on the Cingular-AT&T Wireless merger, which may be just days away. Among the principles DoJ endorses is that the remedy should promote “competition, not competitors” and that all remedies must be enforceable: “A defendant will scrupulously obey a decree only when the decree’s meaning is clear, and when the defendant and its agents know they face the prospect of fines or imprisonment if they disregard the decree.” The guidelines are consistent with a stance taken by FCC Chmn. Powell that in general structural remedies, such as asset sales, are preferable to behavioral remedies. The guidelines state that “conduct” remedies are appropriate in limited cases, such as when a “full- stop prohibition” of the merger would “sacrifice significant efficiencies and a structural remedy would also sacrifice such inefficiencies or is infeasible.” Hewitt Pate, asst. attorney gen.-Antitrust Div., said the guidelines provide more clarity for all involved in mergers. “Effective antitrust enforcement requires remedies based on sound legal and economic principles and closely related to the identified competitive harm,” Pate said. “Once we have determined that a merger may substantially lessen competition, the division will insist upon relief that fully restores competition to the market… The Remedies Guide provides the tools needed to more quickly identify critical legal and economic issues regarding merger remedies and devise a remedy specifically tailored to the competitive harm.”