Keeping up with the cost-of-living … If you happened to feel a vague, somewhat disturbing, shudder recently, don’t worry: it was just the upper limit of potential FCC fines being raised across the board. By Order effective July 1, 2016 (or maybe August 1 – we’ll get to that), the Commission followed up on a … Continue Reading
Proposal would put other agencies on 90-day clock to complete review of possible national security issues. In an effort to facilitate foreign investment in U.S. common carrier and broadcast licensees, the FCC has proposed changes in the way it processes proposals involving reportable levels of foreign ownership. Historically, a major source of delay in the … Continue Reading
Failure to respond to FCC notices can have adverse consequences. When the FCC proposed to fine Chinese company C.T.S. Technology $34,912,500 a couple of years ago for marketing jammers in the United States, we predicted it would have trouble collecting. Silly us – we underestimated the FCC’s problems in even communicating with C.T.S., which did not … Continue Reading
Just last week we reported on the FCC’s overhaul of the Lifeline program. The Commission’s sweeping decision has now been published in the Federal Register. As frequent visitors here know, that publication does a couple of things. First, it sets the effective date for some, but by no means all, of the new rules. That … Continue Reading
Faster, simpler, cheaper process, but no greater support The federal Lifeline program – a program overseen by the FCC and originally designed to provide subsidized phone service to low-income households – has never been a model of efficiency or consistency. Four years ago the Commission tried to tighten things up on the Lifeline front. And … Continue Reading
If it’s May, it must be time for proposed regulatory fees – and sure enough, here they are! In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the FCC has got the ball rolling down the road that, for many regulatees, will lead us to a payment deadline sometime in September (or maybe August, but don’t count … Continue Reading
A couple of weeks ago we reported on the FCC’s announcement of the final steps in the run-up to the start of bidding in the clock phase of the reverse auction portion of the long-awaited, much-anticipated Broadcast Incentive Auction. One of those steps: an FCC-conducted workshop on the online bidding system that participants will have … Continue Reading
It’s crunch time – so everybody looking to participate in the Incentive Auction should pay close attention. At long last, the Commission has announced the Initial Clearing Target that it plans to shoot for in the Incentive Auction, and it has set the dates for the commencement of the reverse auction. These are developments of … Continue Reading
New services promise exceptional performance. Just not everywhere. And not soon. After the successes of 3G and 4G mobile services, something called 5G was inevitable. It’s still a ways off, but the outlines are taking shape. The hallmark of 5G mobile service will be blindingly fast data speeds, possibly in the gigabit-per-second range, faster than … Continue Reading
Last month we reported on the FCC’s proposals aimed at reducing the problems that could arise when use of unlicensed devices in the 600 MHz band becomes widespread. The Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rule Making has now been published in the Federal Register, which means we now know the deadlines for comments on those proposals. … Continue Reading
Initial Commitment Module preview period opens March 24 – would-be reverse auction participants should take advantage of it. Talk about anti-climax! Well after the close of normal business hours on Friday, March 18, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied the Videohouse Three’s motion for a stay of the Incentive Auction with … Continue Reading
D.C. Circuit grants one aspect of stay request, leaving the Incentive Auction on track For the time being, the Incentive Auction is still on track: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has granted the stay request of Latin Broadcasters of Daytona Beach, LLC. Wait – the auction is on track, but the … Continue Reading
FCC releases samples of file formats to be provided to reverse auction participants during auction. In case we were all figuring that the reverse auction was going to be a walk in the park, the FCC has given us a glimpse of Reverse Auction Future by posting the “reverse auction file format specifications” that will … Continue Reading
We have previously reported that one party (Latina Broadcasters of Daytona Beach, LLC) has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to stay either (a) the exclusion of Latina’s application from the upcoming reverse auction) or (b) the reverse auction itself. And now the Videohouse Three (about whose appeal we have also … Continue Reading
FCC opens rulemaking to address white space geolocation questions. Everybody interested in 600 MHz – whether broadcasters sweating the repacking process, carriers planning to bid on new spectrum, or one of the many other current spectrum users wondering what the future will look like – share a common concern: How will the FCC ensure that … Continue Reading
As the FCC plows ahead with plans to start its reverse auction process by requiring initial commitments by 6:00 p.m. (ET) on March 29, 2016, efforts by stations seeking a ticket into the reverse auction through Class A protection continue down at the D.C. Circuit. As we have reported, the Videohouse Three managed to get … Continue Reading
Be careful what you wish for, because you may get it. That may be what counsel for Videohouse is thinking just now, as the D.C. Circuit has granted their motion for an expedited briefing schedule. That’s good news for them, right? (Unclear on the background here? Take a look at this post and then come … Continue Reading
Publicly, the Commission appears determined to proceed full speed ahead, but a couple of FCC pleadings to the D.C. Circuit suggest otherwise. Pretty much since the FCC set out on its headlong race to design and implement the upcoming Incentive Auction, one of the Prime Directives appears to have been to get the thing done … Continue Reading
We’ve written about the great potential for putting the millimeter wave band to use through emerging technologies currently in active development. If you didn’t believe us, maybe you’ll believe the FCC, which will be presenting a “Spectrum Frontiers and Technological Developments in the Millimeter Wave Bands” workshop at its Washington, D.C. headquarters on March 10, … Continue Reading
When it’s time to replace your telecom system, the devil is in the details – and there are a lot of details. Virtually every business depends on its telecommunications systems – and the bigger the company, the more crucial, and the more complex, those systems become. When the time arrives (and trust me, it will … Continue Reading
Upcoming tests seek to predict whether Wi-Fi can survive cell companies’ using its frequency bands. (Like it says in that disclaimer over to the right, this post reflects the opinions of its author – not his law firm, its other lawyers, or its clients.) Wi-Fi may be one of the best ideas anybody ever had. … Continue Reading
It’s that time of year again – time for our annual reminder to most (but not necessarily all) telecommunications carriers and interconnected VoIP providers that your CPNI certifications are due by March 1, 2016. As described by the Enforcement Bureau, CPNI – Customer Proprietary Network Information to the uninitiated – includes “some of the most … Continue Reading
Area Man v. Verizon II – a re-match of the mis-matched. You may pay twice, too, the next time you upgrade. (Blogger’s Note: See that disclaimer over to your right, under “Welcome to Our Readers.” This post reflects the views only of the author, not of the law firm or its clients.) A few days … Continue Reading
Short form: for now, keep filing form 740 as you always have. If you import electronic equipment to the U.S., listen up. We told you back in October that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is phasing out the computer system on which you electronically file form 740 – the form that shows compliance … Continue Reading