Department of Justice Opposes AT&T/T-Mobile Merger
The Justice Department filed a Complaint on August 31 opposing the AT&T/T-Mobile merger on the grounds that it would cause an unacceptable reduction in competition in the provision of wireless services. The FCC will be issuing its own findings with regard to whether the merger would serve the public interest, including an analysis of its competitive impact. It might have been anticipated that the Commission would approve the request on the basis that it would promote broadband deployment in rural areas, a commitment made by AT&T as part of its pitch for approval. The action by the Justice Department obviously complicates this objective. Of course, the merger may ultimately be approved following further concessions by both sides. FCC News
Category:FCC Chairman Appoints Managing Director
David Robbins has been named Managing Director of the Commission starting September 12, 2011, announced FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. Robbins will succeed Steve VanRoekel, who left the agency earlier this year for a post at USAID. Robbins formerly worked at the U.S. Small Business Administration as Associate Administrator for the Office of Management and Administration. FCC News
Category: In the newsLMCC Requests Dismissal of Mobile Broadband Coalition Proposal
The LMCC urged the FCC to dismiss as “entirely without merit” the Mobile Broadband Coalition’s suggestion that the FCC initiate a rulemaking proceeding to “repurpose” the 851-861/806/816 MHz band from its 25 kHz channelization to a “flexible use and market based approach.” In their August 29 letter to the FCC, the LMCC makes the point that the Coalition’s proposal “blithely ignores the current use of the band for vital public safety and business communications and the absence of suitable replacement spectrum for the many thousands of users that would be displaced by the adoption of this approach.” The LMCC points out that the concept “disregards the ongoing reconfiguration of this band that already has consumed seven years, billions of dollars and the extraordinary efforts of public safety and other incumbents”, and asks whether the Mobile Broadband Coalition “expects the parties engaged in this effort to continue their work, even though these rebanded systems then would be dismantled in favor of the uber-LTE network.” Further the LMCC points out that such a proposal could “only have come from parties without any meaningful operations in this band.”
Category: In the newsFCC Studies Antenna Impacts to Environment
The FCC will conduct a Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) of its Antenna Structure Registration (ASR) program to comply with its obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The purpose of the PEA is to evaluate the potential environmental effects of the Commission’s ASR program. The FCC will host a public meeting on September 20 during which additional public comment will be invited in addition to seeking comments by October 3 on a draft PEA to be released by the WTB.
Public Notice Draft PEA Program