Matt Daneman

A variety of satellite companies agree with the FCC's tentative conclusion that existing direct broadcast satellite feeder link earth stations should be grandfathered on proposed rules to mitigate potential ground-path interference between those earth stations and broadcast satellite service (BSS) subscriber earth stations receiving signals in the same 17.3-17.7 GHz band. While there are few such DBS feeder link facilities, AT&T said in comments filed Wednesday in docket 06-123, "they play a critical role in the delivery of video programming to millions of viewers and must be able to continue operating as they were designed to do under the rules in force when they were licensed." AT&T, EchoStar and Dish Network jointly and SES Americom responded (see here and here) to an International Bureau public notice last month seeking updated comments on the proposed ground path interference rules (see 1510080043). SES said it continues to believe limited changes should be allowable at such DBS facilities without a loss of grandfather status. AT&T said DirecTV previously had backed creation of a "non-protection zone" around such grandfathered sites, but it now agrees with SES and EchoStar that such a buffer zone isn't needed as BSS operators starting service near an existing grandfathered site "should make their own determination as to where their potential subscribers would not be subject to excessive levels of interference from the existing site." AT&T bought DirecTV. There also was broad agreement from filers for requiring coordination between new DBS feeder link facilities and 17/24 GHz BSS providers. Instead of set limits on the siting of, shielding for or equivalent isotropically radiated power at such new facilities, the parties involved in coordination should decide that themselves, SES said. AT&T also said it changed its mind about requiring DBS operators to put new uplink facilities in low-population density areas because the coordination and shield requirements proposed mean such a requirement isn't needed. "Those DBS providers who elect to place new uplink facilities in an area not considered 'remote' or exceeding some population threshold will need to manage the (potentially more burdensome) coordination required," it said. SES said one area where it has changed its views since the FCC originally took comments on proposed rules in 2007 is that it now leans toward using 5 dB as a link performance margin when determining coordination zones, instead of a proposed 2 dB -- a figure SES called "too conservative ... not reflect[ing] realistic operational data."

Zero-rating Internet services could end up being one of the next big areas of inquiry for the FCC, Internet law experts told us. Comcast's Stream TV service has been getting criticism (see 1511100034) for supposedly violating the intent, if not the terms, of the net neutrality order. Public Knowledge in a blog said it's "a straightforward example of the anticompetitive problems zero-rating can raise, and provides little consumer benefit." The group has said consumers are complaining to the commission about the practice, and Communications Daily has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to the agency seeking information on such complaints.

The advertising interconnection red flags raised by an opponent to Comcast's buying Time Warner Cable has come up again as the Justice Department's reported probe into Comcast's ad interconnect policies may stem from that now-dead transaction proceeding. Whether the DOJ probe could affect other such ad interconnect agreements among multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) is impossible to say for now, an expert said. Such an investigation could take months or longer to resolve, one antitrust lawyer not involved in the supposed investigation told us.

The FCC and Comcast are wrong when they claim a 2013 U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruling didn't set up a new evidentiary framework for deciding program carriage violations, Tennis Channel said in a proof reply brief in its petition seeking to force the agency to reopen a complaint against the cable operator. FCC arguments that Tennis Channel was supposed to anticipate the D.C. Circuit would put in place new evidentiary requirements and produce evidence in advance satisfying those hypothetical requirements "cannot be right in a case like this one, where an appellate court altered the standard of proof after the case was tried," Tennis Channel said Thursday. "Because the explanation in the FCC’s Order entirely fails to grapple with the relevant interests at stake, its refusal to reopen the record must be vacated."

Public Knowledge used Globalstar's proposed terrestrial low-power service (TLPS) proceeding to swipe at Qualcomm, which backs LTE-U that groups like PK and the cable industry contend can interfere with Wi-Fi. PK said the FCC should use Globalstar's TLPS proceeding as an opportunity to make it clear unlicensed is "equal to, not subordinate to, licensed spectrum," in a filing posted Friday in dockets 13-213 and 15-105. That wouldn't recast Part 15 rules on interference, Public Knowledge said. Instead it would add to "a steady evolution in the Commission's thinking" illustrated by its 2013 order approving Progeny's E-911 locator service for commercial use in the 902-928 MHz band (see 1306070030), PK said.

The FCC's best route to LTE-U/Wi-Fi coexistence is by watching and encouraging industry-led progress toward that goal, the Wi-Fi Alliance said in an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 15-105. The group, which earlier this month put out its own suggested guidelines on how the two can coexist in the same spectrum (see 1511040059), has said the agency should monitor that coexistence development and step in on coexistence issues only if necessary. "I hope we have stepped in on it," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said Thursday after the agency's November meeting. "I've said to [LTE-U and Wi-Fi industry representatives], 'Folks, you've got to come together and resolve this in a broad-based standard.' It appears the House subcommittee has done the same. This is the way things ought to be taken care of. There are two things that characterize unlicensed spectrum. One, it's the innovation band; it's where all kinds of new innovations happen. And you want to make sure that in fact continues. The second is, it's the 'everybody respects everybody else' band. And we want to make sure both of those are happening. And the way that can be done is by a broad-based development of commonly agreed-to standards that meets both of those criteria." LTE-U backer Verizon "agrees," Patrick Welsh, assistant vice president-regulatory affairs, told us Friday in an email. "We are actively working with the Wi-Fi Alliance to develop coexistence guidelines for LTE-U." And in a statement, fellow LTE-U advocate Qualcomm said "proponents of LTE-U, including the members of the LTE-U Forum -- whose members also are members of the Wi-Fi Alliance -- are pleased to continue our ongoing collaboration with the industry through our work with the Wi-Fi Alliance initiative to develop an agreed-upon coexistence test regimen that will ensure that LTE-U and Wi-Fi successfully co-exist in the unlicensed spectrum, where the watchword is permission-less innovation, as Chairman Wheeler has correctly recognized.” The Wi-Fi Alliance ex parte recapped meetings between alliance CEO Edgar Figueroa and front-line staff of Wheeler and of Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel, plus with Office of Engineering and Technology representatives. The Wi-Fi Alliance said it plans a Coexistence Test Workshop for the week of Feb. 8. The group's members include Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Comcast, Intel, LG, Microsoft, Sony and T-Mobile, its website said.

World Radiocommunication Conference delegates agreed on a globally harmonized network of vehicular radar in the 77.5-78 GHz frequency band that opens the door to short-range collision avoidance systems, said Decker Anstrom, U.S. ambassador to WRC-15. Given the rise of smart cars and the “still unacceptable levels of traffic accidents or deaths [worldwide] … this will save lives,” Anstrom said on a call with reporters Thursday.

The FCC -- which once requested far less data and fewer documents than the Justice Department for use in evaluating mergers and acquisitions -- has caught up to and in some cases surpassed DOJ, Arthur Burke of Davis Polk said Tuesday at an FCBA panel on M&As. "Today, it's millions of documents, just like at DOJ -- maybe more," said Burke, who represented Comcast in a variety of antitrust matters, including its failed bid to buy Time Warner Cable. During the pendancy of Comcast/TWC, Comcast at one point had 300 contract lawyers reviewing documents in Falls Church, Virginia, office space, Burke said. "It's an enormous undertaking ... and it has to be done at breakneck speed," he said. "There's no easy way to resolve that."

One major piece of the updated FCC.gov is in place, as the agency this summer put out a new search application and integrated it into the existing website, said Deanna Stephens, project manager of the website modernization effort. That faceted search goes through both FCC.gov and the Electronic Document Management System for results, though the search can be filtered, and will be carried over into the new site expected to go live in mid-December, agency representatives said Wednesday. So far, the site is getting good reviews from those we interviewed.

Neither the Liberty companies nor Chairman John Malone has “the incentive or ability” to use any New Charter leverage in any way that represents a conflict of interest, Liberty Broadband, Liberty Interactive and Liberty Media said in filings posted Tuesday in FCC docket 15-149. Numerous conditions have been proposed as the commission reviews Charter Communications' proposed buying of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable (see 1511130021). Regulators will likely impose some that attempt to put up a barrier to any Malone leverage, said Andrew Schwartzman, who represents Zoom Telephonics, which is among those suggesting conditions.