fcc

Forward mobile spectrum auction goes into reverse

23 October 2016 by Steve Blum
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Maybe it’s just a Rockford?

Well, that didn’t take long. Two hours after the Federal Communications Commission starting taking bids from mobile carriers (and, perhaps, would-be mobile carriers) for 90 MHz of television spectrum, it shut the auction down. Instead of stretching out for several bidding sessions over many days, or even weeks, the second stage of the incentive auction ended fast, and on a down note.

Mobile carriers were willing to pay $21.5 billion for the 90 MHz that was on offer.… More

Shifting spectrum from TV to mobile broadband still looks expensive

14 October 2016 by Steve Blum
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Broadcasters have reduced their selling price by $32 billion in the second round of the Federal Communications Commission’s incentive auction, which ended yesterday. Even so, there’s still a big gap between that and what mobile broadband carriers were willing to pay in the first round.

The auction is aimed at moving legacy TV stations off of prime UHF real estate so mobile broadband companies can use the bandwidth instead.

The second, reverse round of the auction began last month, with 90 MHz of prime mobile broadband spectrum on the line (and another 24 MHz for unlicensed uses and guard band duty).… More

FCC set to cut legacy wholesale broadband prices, oversee faster services

11 October 2016 by Steve Blum
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Competitive split.

There’s a 45 Mbps divide in the wholesale bandwidth business, and the Federal Communications Commission is preparing new and separate regulations to address both sides. It’s one of the three key issues that chairman Tom Wheeler promised the cell phone industry he would address to clear the path for deployment of 5G technology, the other two being spectrum and local restrictions on wireless sites.

In a summary – Wheeler doesn’t release drafts of new rules to the public, preferring instead to limit his conversations to industry stakeholders – he described prices for (mostly) legacy broadband services at 45 Mbps and below as “artificially high” and outlined a plan to first cap current rates and then chop them over time, by as much as 20% in the next the three years alone.… More

Privacy is absolute, security is relative. Or so FCC hints

7 October 2016 by Steve Blum
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Sûreté, non pas tant.

Internet service providers – mobile, wireline and fixed wireless – will finally have well defined privacy protection standard to meet if the Federal Communications Commission approves new rules proposed yesterday by chairman Tom Wheeler. Naturally, he only released his own summary; the actual draft rules weren’t released. The FCC keeps details of decisions secret from the public until after they vote. And until after they’ve discussed those details with deep pocketed lobbyists stakeholders.… More

FCC's muni broadband distraction shudders to a final stop

4 October 2016 by Steve Blum
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It’s officially over: the Federal Communications Commission does not have the authority to preempt state authority over municipal broadband systems, even when it thinks the way in which that authority is wielded constitutions a barrier to infrastructure investment. The federal appeals court in Cincinnati made that decision in August, in a case brought against the FCC by Tennessee and North Carolina, and issued the final order yesterday. It was a formality that brings the case to an end.… More

Lower cable bills won't follow new set top box rules

2 October 2016 by Steve Blum
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You still need, and need to pay for, one of these.

When – or if – the Federal Communications Commission adopts new rules that loosen restrictions on the hardware consumers can use to watch video from cable companies and other pay TV providers, it won’t mean the end of equipment fees tacked on to your monthly bill.

The FCC’s preliminary notice of proposed rule making focused on opening up the market for competing hardware, but that provoked a firestorm of protests and intense lobbying efforts by the industry.… More

FCC delays vote on secret set top box rules

29 September 2016 by Steve Blum
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Just give me a little more, um, time.

A plan to require cable companies (and other pay TV operators) to open up their systems to third party set top boxes hit a wall this morning, as the Federal Communications Commission pulled the item from its monthly meeting agenda, just minutes before it was supposed to begin.

As crafted by FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, the plan would have required cable (and satellite and telephone) companies to build apps that would run on boxes made and purchased and installed by pretty much anyone.… More

Bill introduced in congress would ban state limits on local broadband service

18 September 2016 by Steve Blum
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With two weeks to go before the U.S. congress takes a pre-election break, progress on broadband-related bills appears to be as bogged down as it was in the California legislature’s recently concluded session. That’s not stopping Silicon Valley representative Anna Eshoo from throwing another community broadband bill into the hopper, though.

House resolution 6013 would, in effect, overturn a federal appeals court ruling that said the Federal Communications Commission can’t preempt a state’s ability to restrict municipal broadband projects.… More

Back to the (secret) drawing board for FCC set top box plan

17 September 2016 by Steve Blum
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Shhhh. No one else is supposed to know.

FCC chairman Tom Wheeler’s plan to set up an industry licensing board to review apps created by pay TV providers that will allow third-party set top boxes to access their programming is slowing down, if not dead in the water. The senior republican and democrat on the house judiciary committee – Bob Goodlatte (R – Virginia) and John Conyers (D – Michigan) – released a joint statement yesterday blasting the plan, saying “there are many unresolved questions about this proposal, not the least of which is the fundamental question of whether the Federal Communication Commission even has the authority to create such a regime”.… More

For results, trim down Pai's broadband plan to an FCC punch list

15 September 2016 by Steve Blum
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Use the home field advantage.

Earlier this week, FCC commissioner Ajit Pai offered a long checklist of actions he’d like to take to improve Internet access and promote economic development, in rural and inner city communities in particular. Those items fall into two categories: things he wants congress to do – good luck with that – and things the Federal Communications Commission can do on its own authority.

Pai is proposing gigabit opportunity zones – low income areas where service providers would get federal tax breaks to improve broadband service and entrepreneurs would likewise benefit if they located there.… More