CTIA and the major carriers urged the FCC to back away from tentative conclusions in a proposed rulemaking that the Commission no longer should award bidding credits or other small business benefits to “designated entities” that have a “material relationship” with the major national carriers. The FCC earlier this month sought comment on a further rulemaking changing its DE rules before June’s advanced wireless services (AWS) auction (CD Feb 6 p2). DE Council Tree had asked the FCC to bar ties between major carriers and DEs in areas where a carrier already has spectrum (CD Jan 18 p1).
The FCC likely will vote March 17 for an order permitting it to create a Public Safety/Homeland Security Bureau, sources said Mon. On a 2nd security-themed item in the same meeting, the FCC is likely to pass an order that could clear the way for public safety to provide video and other broadband applications, in addition to voice communications, on 700 MHz spectrum. Chmn. Martin late Fri. began to circulate both items with colleagues in preparation for the March meeting.
No Senate Commerce Committee member has indicated intent to file more amendments Thurs., when the committee marks up the cellphone privacy bill (S-2389), Committee Staff Dir. Lisa Sutherland told reporters Fri. “We've sent out a notice telling people that the amendments that they filed previously will be deemed to be filed for the markup,” she said: “Nobody has some to us and said, ‘We have new ideas.'”
Paris-based Alcatel and Lucent confirmed they're in formal merger talks to create the world’s largest telecom equipment company, with combined sales of $25.33 billion. Alcatel is a dominant equipment supplier to carriers in Europe and Asia, and a merger could give Alcatel a stronger position in the U.S. Lucent, an AT&T spinoff that includes Bell Labs, has been a dominant supplier to carriers in the U.S., but has lost market share to competitors led by Nortel. The firms said there’s no assurance a deal will get done, and they won’t comment further until talks end.
Congress will hold discussions with the FCC but may pass legislation even if the FCC moves on a long-stalled item and opens broadcast “white spaces” to unlicensed use, said Senate Commerce Committee Staff Dir. Lisa Sutherland.
Chmn. Martin wants a full FCC vote on a contentious public notice that would require blind bids in an advanced wireless services (AWS) auction this June, sources said Thurs. The Wireless Bureau had been expected to issue the notice. Now the FCC is expected to vote at its April 12 meeting. In another wireless sector matter, sources said Martin is recirculating a BRS/EBS order. An earlier version was withdrawn.
The Wireless Communications Assn., National ITFS Association (NIA) and Catholic TV Network (CTN) are trying to resolve conflicts over the length of leases on spectrum owned by educational groups to be made available for sale in the secondary wireless broadband market. But the groups may not be able to broker a deal, onlookers said Wed.
Canada’s Policy Review Panel, which completed an exhaustive review of how telecom is regulated there, said in a report released late Wed. that the nation’s regulatory framework should undergo “fundamental reform” away from heavy regulation. The panel, appointed by the Minister of Industry last April, released a report with 392 pages and 127 recommendations.
The FCC decision not to act on a Verizon forbearance petition seeking regulatory relief regarding charges to business customers for high-speed data was a win for Verizon -- but how big remains unclear, analysts said Tues. The exact relief provided by the FCC is uncertain because the Commission has released statements and a news release, but no order yet, analysts said.
Rather than establish a simple test, the FCC should examine the relationships between designated entities (DEs) and major carriers case-by-case before deciding whether to allow an auction bidder to qualify for DE credits during this summer’s advanced wireless services auction, DoJ said in a filing at the Commission.