Dutch KPN said Administrative Court in Rotterdam complied with KPN Mobile’s request to suspend decision of Dutch telecom regulator OPTA on mobile interconnection charges. KPN said that, as result of ruling, mobile operators wouldn’t have to lower their mobile interconnection charges Dec. 1, as OPTA had originally demanded. KPN said decision “means that the decline in revenues and EBITDA as calculated at the presentation of the 3rd-quarter result, has been averted for the time being.” KPN said proceedings on merits before court relating to first decision by OPTA on KPN Mobile and O2 were relevant in this context. It said hearing was planned for Feb., but it wasn’t known when court would give final decision. “KPN Mobile is opposing the current inequity in the tariffs of the various mobile operators. OPTA makes a distinction between GSM 900 operators [such as KPN Mobile and Vodafone] and DCS 1800 operators,” such as O2, Dutchtone and Ben. KPN said OPTA had drawn up 3-phase plan for lowering tariffs. “If OPTA’s decisions are upheld in the proceedings, the effects will be felt throughout the mobile industry,” KPN said.
Country of origin cases
U.K. TV industry spends more per capita on producing original TV programming than U.S., British Independent TV Commission (ITC) reported. It said British TV spent nearly $7 billion per year on TV programming, growing 6% per year over last 5 years. It also said U.K. was world’s 2nd-largest exporter of TV programming, though trailing far behind U.S.
FCC staff report on ultra-wideband (UWB) testing brought criticism from some wireless carriers who said it wasn’t rigorous enough to be basis for rulemaking (CD Oct 23 p2). Comments on report were due Nov. 22, and several respondents questioned FCC’s testing methods and whether they adequately analyzed interference issues associated with UWB and GPS, especially as they related to E-911 systems.
France Telecom (FT) and MobilCom signed conditional deal Fri. for amicable termination of their agreements on development of 3G in Germany. Agreement was signed as part of MobilCom rescue plan organized by German govt. Sept. 15.
Newly expanded Comcast filed federal lawsuit against Starz Encore Group, trying to get Liberty Media-owned Starz to abide by terms it had with original Comcast, rather than those it had with AT&T Broadband, now part of Comcast. Suit was filed in U.S. Dist. Court, Philadelphia. Starz said it believed “the claims made in the complaint are without merit and [it] will vigorously contest them.”
FCC refused to preempt Fla. PSC’s jurisdiction to arbitrate Supra Telecom’s billing and service dispute with BellSouth. Supra sought preemption but FCC said fact that disputes over implementation of PSC’s original arbitration order had dragged on for 2 years didn’t constitute state failure to act, as defined in FCC rules. FCC said PSC took action on arbitration by deadlines specified in rules, and any disagreements with agency’s decisions should be referred to federal courts. In related matter, PSC allowed BellSouth to withdraw complaint against Supra that alleged Supra was abusing local exchange navigation system, an operation support system (OSS) component used in preparing service orders for processing. BS said it was dropping complaint because Supra said it no longer used component in question.
Senate passed conference committee report on FY 2003 Dept. of Defense (DoD) authorization bill that would provide $437 million for R&D activities related to information and communications systems security programs. It emphasized need to seek advances in biometric technology, saying that such physical identification techniques could serve as an integral part of nation’s evolving critical infrastructure protection policy.
XM Satellite Radio had 201,544 subscribers at Sept. 30 close of its 3rd quarter, up 47% with addition of 64,836 since end of 2nd quarter, company said Thurs. It also reaffirmed it was on track to meet projected subscriber target of 350,000 by year-end and for first time said it was forecasting reaching 1.2 million by end of 2003. CEO Hugh Panero told financial analysts XM had met all Wall St. expectations on subscriber targets and earnings projections, but he conceded XM had failed to reach internal goal of procuring new financing by announcement of 3rd-quarter results. He indicated talks with new and existing investors could yield agreement by mid-Dec. Meanwhile, to “stretch” $84.3 million in existing cash reserves, company was negotiating deferred or reduced payments under existing contracts and was cutting work force -- eliminating 80 of 448 jobs recently. XM said it had been in talks with GM for deferral of up to $200 million in payment obligations, including $100 million due in 2003 and 2004. But deal with GM is contingent on XM securing at least $200 million in new financing and making unspecified “modifications” in its capital structure. Other developments: (1) Panero said XM had seen no competitive impact from rival Sirius. (2) XM now estimated life expectancy of its first orbiting Boeing 702- class satellite, “Rock,” at 6.75 years vs. 16 years of original estimate because of progressive degradation of solar output power.
Citing tough economic conditions, FCC granted relief to NextWave re-auction winners Thurs., allowing them to opt out of their Jan. 2001 bid obligations without penalties. Commission approved order unanimously, with Comr. Martin dissenting in part on requirement that carriers withdraw from entire auction to be relieved from any of payment obligations. Order appeared to not impose penalties on withdrawing carriers by waiving default rules and allowing bidders that exited auction to acquire that spectrum in future auctions.
House will continue debate today (Thurs.) on compromise bill (HR-5710) to create Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS), including combined Directorate for Information Analysis & Infrastructure Protection (IA-IP). DHS would include undersecy. responsible for comprehensive national plan for protecting key national resources such as information technology and telecom systems, “including satellites, electronic financial and property record storage and transmission systems, emergency preparedness communications systems.”