fcc

FCC commissioners surf a common carrier wave

16 November 2014 by Steve Blum
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As detailed yesterday, an article in the the Washington Post describes well the split between U.S. president Barack Obama and FCC chair Tom Wheeler over common carrier regulation of Internet infrastructure and service. But it’s not a game of equals, which is why the safe bet is on adoption of Title II common carrier rules.

Even though the Post article puts Wheeler on an even footing with Obama as an independent policy maker, the reality is far different.… More

Wheeler missed the point of the story: you can't split a baby

15 November 2014 by Steve Blum
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Ex parte pleading for an ex partitio solution.

Although FCC chairman Tom Wheeler continues to play his cherished Beltway bandit game behind closed doors, the likelihood of Internet service coming largely, if not completely, under common carrier regulation is growing.

An excellent article by Brian Fung and Nancy Scola in the Washington Post clearly lays out the problem: U.S. president Barack Obama wants full on common carrier regulation, while lobbyist-in-chief Wheeler wants to cut a deal that pleases everyone, at least everyone who counts, which in Wheeler’s world is deep-pocketed lobbyists.… More

Uncommon advocacy for common carrier broadband rules

11 November 2014 by Steve Blum
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Entering the network neutral zone.

Consumer broadband service will be regulated as a common carrier service. Either that, or U.S. president Barack Obama is so detached from reality that he records a video pronouncement to that effect and leaves for a summit meeting in China without first making sure that his appointee – FCC chairman Tom Wheeler – has his back. In an accompanying written statement, Obama explained yesterday…

So the time has come for the FCC to recognize that broadband service is of the same importance and must carry the same obligations as so many of the other vital services do.

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Beltway bandit style Internet regulation might be off the table

5 November 2014 by Steve Blum
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FCC chairman Tom Wheeler is reported to be backing away from his no-lobbyist-left-behind method of imposing and enforcing network neutrality rules. The new plan, according to the Wall Street Journal, is to split the Internet service business into two parts: the consumer-facing retail access business, which would remain as it is – largely unregulated – and the back-side business of interconnecting content companies and other ISPs to those retail customers.

The back-side would be regulated as a common carrier business, presumably subject to some kind of network neutrality rules, although that’s not a given.… More

Speech isn't free when ISPs can set prices based on content

30 October 2014 by Steve Blum
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FedEx doesn’t charge based on what a document says. Neither should Comcast or AT&T.

California Public Utilities Commissioner Catherine Sandoval has argued – and voted – in favor of regulating broadband infrastructure companies as common carriers, in much the same way as telephone companies, but with a “light touch”. She made her case in testimony at a congressional hearing in Sacramento in September, and later polished it and submitted it to the FCC for consideration in its network neutrality deliberations.… More

Broadcasters delay spectrum auction for at least year, but hey, they're entitled

28 October 2014 by Steve Blum
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Ten years isn’t so long. Unless you’re a dog. Or the Internet.

The possibility of converting prime spectrum from TV broadcasting to mobile broadband use has been pushed off another year. The FCC is delaying the planned auction of 600 MHz broadcast frequencies until 2016, instead of next summer.

It’ll take that long to sort out a lawsuit filed by the National Association of Broadcasters – the primary lobbying organisation for TV and radio station owners – according to the FCC…

Earlier this week, the court issued a briefing schedule in which the final briefs are not due until late January 2015.

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Cities can still use positive incentives to influence wireless broadband builds

27 October 2014 by Steve Blum
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Cities and counties are still in control of their own property, at least concerning decisions about where to install wireless broadband facilities. In a recent ruling that tightens the limits on how local governments may regulate cell towers, antennae and other wireless infrastructure, the FCC said those rules don’t apply when cities are simply acting as landlords…

Courts have consistently recognized that in “determining whether government contracts are subject to preemption, the case law distinguishes between actions a State entity takes in a proprietary capacity— actions similar to those a private entity might take—and its attempts to regulate.”…Like

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Comcast seems to think there's a difference between complete or just overwhelming market control

25 October 2014 by Steve Blum
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Comcast could end up with half of the broadband subscribers in the U.S. or maybe only something more than a third, if it’s allowed to take over Time-Warner and swap markets with Charter Communications. Whether it’s a half or just a third (or a bit more), depends on your definition of what broadband is and is not.

A Bloomberg article by Todd Shields and David McLaughlin breaks down the dilemma. If you take the FCC’s current minimum standard – speeds of 4 Mbps down and 1 up – then Comcast would only own 35.5% of U.S.… More

Rural broadband needs are low and highly confidential, AT&T says

24 October 2014 by Steve Blum
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AT&T knows what rural broadband customers need. And it’s not nearly as much as what people living in high potential urban and suburban communities need, according to arguments AT&T and DirecTv are making to the FCC, in support of their proposed merger…

Within its wireline footprint, AT&T will extend its ultra-fast, fiber-to-the-premises (“FTTP”) GigaPower wireline broadband service with speeds of up to 1 Gbps to at least 2 million locations. At the same time, in rural, often underserved areas, AT&T will deploy fixed wireless local loop (“WLL”) broadband to an additional 13 million locations.

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FCC narrows scope for local review of wireless build outs

22 October 2014 by Steve Blum
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The FCC’s decision to tell local governments that if they don’t approve permit applications for relatively minor modifications to wireless infrastructure within 60 days then permission is automatically “deemed granted” is a bit less than absolute. Local governments can still go to court to stop installations, and there’s a narrow set of reasons that permit applications can be rejected.

But make no mistake: the FCC is severely limiting the scope for local review of “collocation, removal, or replacement of transmission equipment on an existing wireless tower or base station,” or other work on on that infrastructure if it doesn’t involve a substantial change to its existing dimensions.… More