Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

CableCARD-ready TV products are “indispensable” to a successful conclusion of the DTV transition, and thus “the proper function of CableCARDs is critical,” Thomson and Mitsubishi executives told the FCC in meetings last week. Consumers are experiencing “numerous technical implementation problems with CableCARDs “resulting in improper operation or failed operation,” they said. “These include persistent problems with CableCARDs or their headend support, erroneous software or firmware fixes, inability of authorized subscribers to acquire some channels that offer encrypted content and erroneous and overly restrictive copy protection outcomes.” They urged the Commission to resist cable industry pressure to eliminate or extend the established July 1, 2006, date by which cable operators no longer will be permitted to sell or lease integrated cable set-tops “and therefore must rely on the same security solution made available to competitive entrants.” Keeping the July 1, 2006, deadline “is absolutely essential” to ensuring that the CableCARD problems that have emerged in the field “would be rectified and would not multiply,” Thomson and Mitsubishi said. “The necessary level of commercial and user confidence in CableCARD-reliant products depends on the cable industry having the same level of commitment to such products as consumer electronics manufacturers. Absent a requirement that the cable industry also rely on CableCARDs for system security, there is simply insufficient incentive to ensure a robust market for integrated digital cable-ready television products as envisioned” when the Commission adopted its plug-&-play rules, they said. David Arland, Thomson vp- communications, who participated in the meetings, told us “our point in going in was not to say, ‘Oh my God, it’s a disaster.’ Our point in going in was to say there are these issues, A, you need to be aware of it, B, we're managing it, but C, it would be great if cable had the same interest in solving them on their own boxes as we have on our own products.” The filing was meant to convey the point “let’s play by the same rule, which by the way, is the federal rule today.”

The FCC released the text of its BPL order Thurs., and Bruce Romano, assoc. chief of the Office of Engineering & Technology, said “there are no surprises.” The FCC had provided outlines of the BPL order at the Oct. 14 Commission meeting. While the industry welcomed the thrust of the announcement, it still harbored apprehensions, saying the devil remained in the details. At a Power Line Communications Assn. (PLCA) conference in Alexandria, Va., Romano told utility executives “clouds” of uncertainty had been removed. He said BPL would continue to operate as an unlicensed device under Part 15 rules and emission limits would remain intact. The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) had lobbied heavily at the last minute for reducing the emission limits. Besides requirements for minimizing interference to amateur radio and certain exclusion zones and frequencies, the order sets new rules for certification of BPL equipment. Under the rules, Romano said, “certification has to be achieved at the FCC” before equipment is widely manufactured and distributed. In the short term, he said, the FCC will be in full control of the process. The rules will go into effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register in 2-3 weeks, he added. There will be an 18 month “transition period” for certification of equipment, unless there are interference problems, Romano said. BPL providers will have to coordinate with public safety and other federal agencies 45 days after the rules take effect. The BPL public database, listing the operator, location, frequencies used and contacts, will have to be set up within 180 days, he said. One of the remaining concerns with BPL is use of high frequencies (HF), said Tom Sullivan, chief of NTIA Spectrum Engineering Branch. HF is a very important part of the spectrum for radio users, he added, so there’s reluctance to adopt BPL widely in Europe. He said unlike the FCC, Europe doesn’t have a track record of working with unlicensed devices or counterparts to the Commission’s Part 15 rules. The U.S., which ranks 11th in broadband deployment worldwide, has a lot of pent-up demand, unlike many Asian countries, Sullivan said. Pointing out that federal regulators have widely supported BPL, he said he wouldn’t be surprised if some states required utilities to roll out BPL. PLCA Pres. Alan Shark said 2005 would be a “pivotal year” for BPL, with a lot of utilities moving from trials to commercial deployments. He said lack of standards is a challenge for the industry. The order is available at www.fcc.gov.

The FCC released an order early Tues. conditionally approving the merger of Cingular and AT&T Wireless. However, Comrs. Copps and Adelstein issued vigorous partial dissents, saying the order fails to address the effect on intermodal competition between wireline and wireless markets.

State regulators are weighing open access for both ISPs and BPL providers as they grapple with the regulatory issues for the broadband over power line (BPL) industry. That became evident at a NARUC BPL task force meeting Sun. in Washington, where state regulators sought views from the FCC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), industry officials and others on how they should balance spurring BPL deployment against handling issues specific to legacy electric infrastructure.

FCC Chmn. Powell said the Commission examines the “totality” of a station’s performance, in evaluating whether the public interest has been served at license renewal time. “Chairman Powell’s response is a warning to broadcasters. It explicitly recognizes that licensees like Sinclair have an obligation to serve the public interest and that if questions are raised about their failure to do so, the FCC is prepared to expeditiously investigate the matter and take action,” said House Commerce Committee ranking Democrat Dingell (Mich.). Powell was responding to a letter from Dingell and House Telecom Subcommittee ranking Democrat Markey (Mass) asking Powell if Sinclair Bcst.’s plan to run an anti-Kerry documentary violated the broadcaster’s public interest obligations (CD Oct 14 p11).

The FCC is likely only days away from a public notice (PN) seeking comments from the industry on issues that have been raised by Nextel as part of the 800 MHz rebanding order. The wireless advisors received the PN Tues. afternoon. A Commission source said release was “imminent.”

BOSTON -- Addressing the VoIP industry in a packed room at the VON conference here, FCC Chmn. Powell stressed that realization of the “Internet consumer freedom” principles he outlined this year and subjecting VoIP to exclusive federal jurisdiction were key to promoting the VoIP revolution. In an emotional speech interrupted several times by applause, Powell compared migration to IP technology with “the great American Revolutions” and said as he was giving his keynote he had “a sense of how our first President, General George Washington, would have felt standing before the Minutemen that would form the Continental Army.”

There’s no evidence to suggest a strong link between TV violence and children’s behavior, media groups said in joint comments in an FCC inquiry on the subject. Virtually all of the comments in the proceeding were from media groups or content owners who opposed new restrictions on TV content.

BOSTON -- State regulators had a mixed reaction to the FCC Wireline Bureau proposal on VoIP jurisdiction expected to be sent to the 8th floor this week (see separate story, this issue), with some questioning whether the proposal would get enough votes from the Commission in light of the upcoming presidential election. Though disagreeing on many issues, most state commissioners at the VON Conference agreed states should play a significant role at least on consumer protection.

Two former FCC officials differed strongly Fri. over how the FCC should be restructured in an age of competition among digital services. At a Capitol Hill forum sponsored by the Progress & Freedom Foundation, PFF Senior Fellow Randolph May -- a former assoc. gen. counsel at the FCC -- reiterated his call for a reduced body that would no longer be an independent agency but instead part of the executive branch (CD Aug 25 p5). But former Comr. Susan Ness said such a move would be “dangerous.” All panelists said the sunshine rules hinder the FCC’s performance, a point that’s also been made by FCC Chmn. Powell (CD Aug 25 p3).