Vol. 5

WTB, TRISTANI ANNOUNCE PERSONNEL MOVES

FCC SEEKS COMMENT ON SATELLITE SPECTRUM SHARING ISSUES

7TH CIRCUIT DETERMINES SMATV PROVIDER DOES NOT NEED FRANCHISE AGREEMENT

NEWS BITES

The FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) has announced that Mark Rubin and Kelly Quinn have been named Legal Advisors to the Bureau Chief, and that Janet Sievert, formerly a Senior Attorney in the Common Carrier Bureau's Competitive Pricing Division, has been named Deputy Chief of the WTB's Policy Division. Commissioner Gloria Tristani has named Adam Krinsky, formerly the Senior Legal Advisor to the Chief of the International Bureau, as her Legal Advisor for international and wireless issues.

For additional information, please contact Dee Herman.

The FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology and the International Bureau are seeking public comment on the conclusions reached at the November 19, 1999 Conference Preparatory Meeting (CPM) in Geneva, Switzerland pertaining to spectrum sharing issues between Non-geostationary Satellite Orbit (NGSO) and Geostationary Satellite Orbit (GSO) Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) operations. Skybridge LLC and Panamsat Corp. have already filed ex parte comments on the CPM Report. Comments in this proceeding must be filed with the Commission on or before December 20, 1999.

For additional information, please contact Dee Herman.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit has upheld the FCC's previous ruling that a satellite master antenna television system (SMATV) which does not place any facilities in the public rights-of-way, but uses a telecommunications provider's facilities on a "common carriage" basis, does not need to obtain a cable franchise agreement from local authorities. The case arose out of Entertainment Communications, Inc. (ECI), a SMATV provider that uses Ameritech's (now part of SBC Communications, Inc.) supertrunking video lines that lie in the public rights-of-way on a "common carriage basis." The FCC determined that since ECI used Ameritech's facilities on a common carriage basis, had no control over where the lines went or the path over which the video signals were sent, ECI did not "use" the public rights-of-ways and did not need a cable franchise agreement. The 7th Circuit upheld the Commission's decision based on ECI's lack of control over Ameritech's facilities.

For additional information, please contact Dee Herman.

*** The FCC has announced that FCC Form 175 (Short Form applications) for the upcoming 929 and 931 MHz Paging Auction must be filed with the Commission no later than January 20, 2000 at 5:30 p.m. EST. The Commission will hold a pre-auction seminar on January 7, 2000 at the FCC's Portals offices. *** The FCC will hold an open meeting on Wednesday, December 15, 1999 at 9:30 a.m. in the Commission's Meeting Room. At the meeting, the Commission will discuss the public interest obligations of television broadcast licensees and an action concerning alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. *** The Nebraska Public Service Commission has determined that dial-up calls to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are "local" traffic subject to reciprocal compensation. The PSC has ordered all outstanding balances related to reciprocal compensation to be paid by January 6, 2000. *** The FCC has extended the due date for filing cost allocation manuals (CAMs) until March 15, 2000 for mid-sized incumbent local exchange carriers planning to file their CAMs at the Class B account level for the 1999 reporting year. *** The FCC has extended the deadline for filing comments in the 24 GHz spectrum band NPRM until January, 2000. ***

For additional information, please contact Dee Herman.