Chairman Martin's Press Conference 4.24.08

CHAIRMAN MARTIN'S PRESS CONFERENCE

• Public to be Given Three Weeks Notice of FCC Meeting Votes
• Emergency network plan revived
• FCC's Martin backs AT&T bid to waive cost data
• Martin: No Stay Of Leased Access Rules
• Martin: Denial of Fox Indecency Appeal Was Reasonable
• FCC Vote On Sirius-XM Merger Not On May 14 Agenda: Analysts

CHAIRMAN MARTIN'S PRESS CONFERENCE

PUBLIC TO BE GIVEN THREE WEEKS NOTICE OF OPEN MEETING AGENDA TOPICS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin announced that topics selected for open meeting agendas will now formally be made public and posted on the Commission's website three weeks prior to the upcoming monthly meeting. This step enhances the openness and transparency of the Commission's processes and deliberations. The Communications Act of 1934 , requires the Commission to formally meet at least monthly. The Commission's practice has been to issue a public notice of the "Commission Meeting Agenda" one week beforehand and announces the items that are scheduled for the agenda. With the Chairman's action, items the Chairman has scheduled for consideration by the Commissioners at the next agenda meeting will be issued and made available to the public through the Commission's web site at: www.fcc.gov . In addition, the Commission will continue to issue the Commission Meeting Agenda at least one week beforehand as a standard practice. The Chairman has circulated the following items for consideration by the Commissioners at the public agenda meeting scheduled for May 14, 2008: 1) A Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would revisit the Commissions decisions concerning the mandatory 700 MHz Public/Private Partnership between the D Block licensee and the Public Safety Broadband Licensee; and 2) A Fourth Memorandum Opinion and Order on narrowbanding that would address a petition for reconsideration and a request for clarification of the Third Report and Order.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-281771A1.doc

EMERGENCY NETWORK PLAN REVIVED
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: John Dunbar]
The Federal Communications Commission will craft a new plan for the creation of a nationwide emergency communications network after the first one failed to attract any support. "I think it's critical that the Commission and all of the government continue to find ways to solve public safety's interoperability problems," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told reporters Thursday. Under the first plan, approved last summer, the agency set aside a swath of airwaves for auction to a commercial bidder that would be combined with a roughly equal portion of spectrum controlled by a public safety trust to create a shared emergency communications network. The winning bidder, in exchange for use of the public safety spectrum, would build the network and make a profit by selling access to wireless service providers. The block was part of a broader auction that raised a record $19.1 billion. But the public safety spectrum failed to attract the minimum bid of $1.3 billion required to award the license. Among the options the commission will consider is the reduction or elimination of the minimum bid requirement. They agency will also seek comment about whether all restrictions should be removed and the spectrum sold to the highest bidder.
http://www.miamiherald.com/692/story/508398.html

FCC'S MARTIN BACKS AT&T BID TO WAIVE COST DATA
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Peter Kaplan]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said Thursday he supports AT&T's bid to waive rules requiring the company to provide information on its costs to regulators. Chairman Martin wants to approve a petition sought by AT&T that would waive the rules, which he called "decades-old regulations that don't make as much sense anymore." Chairman Martin said AT&T has estimated it costs $10 million a year for the company to adhere to the rule. AT&T says the regulations reflect a time when the company was a monopoly and the rates it charged were based on costs, but it now operates in a competitive marketplace. "I think it's important for us to try to respond to deregulatory efforts that would save the companies a significant amount of revenue, and particularly for rules and regulations that are no longer required...," Chairman Martin said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUSN24331018200804...

MARTIN: NO STAY OF LEASED ACCESS RULES
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said Thursday he won’t support suspension of the cable leased access rules while the cable industry is fighting them in court. “I supported those rules and I think we should let them take effect,” Chairman Martin told a group of reporters at FCC headquarters. The new leased access rates go into effect on May 31. “I think our leased access rules provided an easier opportunity for people with diverse programming to get that content on the cable platform,” Martin said. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association last month asked the FCC to suspend the rules after it filed suit in federal court to block them.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6554845.html?nid=4262

MARTIN: DENIAL OF FOX INDECENCY APPEAL WAS REASONABLE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said Thursday that he thought it was reasonable that the FCC Enforcement Bureau rejected Fox's appeal of its Married by America indecency fine without considering the merits. The FCC's reason for dismissing it? Fox exceeded the page limit of the filing by 12 pages and did not file a request to exceed that limit the requisite 10 days before the filing. At a press conference, Martin said he thought it was "reasonable" for the bureau "to consider the way that our rules, including the rules about filing pleadings, work. Sure."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6554850.html?rssid=193

FCC VOTE ON SIRIUS-XM MERGER NOT ON MAY 14 AGENDA: ANALYSTS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Larry Barrett]
The FCC’s expected approval of the much-delayed merger between XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio likely won't happen until late May or June after chairman Kevin Martin failed to distribute a draft ruling of the regulatory agency's conditional approval to other commissioners Wednesday night, according to equity research firm Stanford Group Company.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6554859.html?nid=4262