It’s Time for FCC/DOJ Inter-Agency Cooperation to Come into the Sunlight…

May 2nd, 2013 | Posted by Larry Spiwak in Antitrust | Department of Justice | Due Process | FCC Reform | Federal Communications Commission | Merger Review | Spectrum Screen - (Comments Off)

Over the past several years, there have been numerous efforts to improve the practices and procedures used at the Federal Commissions Commission.  However, of all of the potential improvements bandied about, I submit that there is one improvement that has been entirely overlooked and needs immediately implementation:  that is, the repeal of Section § 1.1204(6) of the FCC’s ex parte rules, which provides that the Commission and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) can meet in secret as often as they like—without having to file anything into the record about the date of the meeting, who attended the meeting and what was discussed—just so long as …
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Spectrum Exhaust and the Monopolization Narrative…

April 3rd, 2013 | Posted by George Ford in Federal Communications Commission | Incumbent Exclusion Rules | Industry Structure and Market Performance | Merger Review | Mobile Broadband | Spectrum Caps | Spectrum Exhaust | Spectrum Screen | Wireless - (Comments Off)

In a recent speech, outgoing FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski once again reiterated the critical importance of spectrum policy “breakthroughs” to address the “tremendous stress” on the capacity of the nation’s wireless networks “from growing digital demand.”  While Congress and regulators are doing what they can, including addressing tower siting (here and here), reallocating and sharing government spectrum (here and here), and moving forward with the voluntary incentive auctions for broadcast spectrum, these actions represent only partial (and possibly untimely) solutions to spectrum exhaust.  Addressing the problem in the near term will require secondary market transactions for spectrum, where spectrum is reassigned from lower to higher …
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Senator Kohl, Wireless Economics and the “Public Interest” Standard…

May 31st, 2012 | Posted by Larry Spiwak in Congressional Oversight | Federal Communications Commission | Incentive Auctions | Incumbent Exclusion Rules | Industry Structure and Market Performance | Law and Economics | Merger Review | Regulation | Spectrum | Spectrum Caps | Spectrum Exhaust | Wireless - (Comments Off)

Last week, Senator Herb Kohl, the powerful Chairman of the Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Sub-Committee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski informing them that he “believes” that the pending acquisition of unused spectrum by Verizon from a consortium of cable companies “presents serious competition concerns.”  In support of this position, Senator Kohl not only argues that there is excess concentration in the current wireless market (dominated by Verizon and AT&T), but that the transaction would allow a “dominant firm” to gain “access to essential inputs needed by a rival to compete.”  …
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Julius Genachowski’s Speech at CTIA…

May 22nd, 2012 | Posted by George Ford in Broadband Credibility Gap | Data Roaming | Federal Communications Commission | Incentive Auctions | Incumbent Exclusion Rules | Industry Structure and Market Performance | Interoperability | Law and Economics | Merger Review | Mobile Broadband | Net Neutrality | Regulation | Spectrum | Spectrum Caps | Spectrum Exhaust | Wireless - (Comments Off)

In his recent keynote speech at the CTIA show in New Orleans, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski reiterated his (and the industry’s) concern that the “demand for mobile services is on pace to exceed the capacity of our mobile networks” and, therefore, we must “tackle the capacity challenge.” The Chairman has previously foretold of a future where spectrum exhaust could make “consumers [...] face slower speeds, more dropped connections, and higher prices.” Plainly, spectrum exhaust remains a key challenge for both mobile service providers and policymakers. The Chairman also took the chance in his CTIA speech to challenge what we and others have said …
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Does Political “Kabuki Theater” Help or Hurt the Regulatory Review Process?

May 8th, 2012 | Posted by Larry Spiwak in Congressional Oversight | Federal Communications Commission | Law and Economics | Legislative Branch | Merger Review | Mobile Broadband | Regulation | Spectrum | Spectrum Caps | Spectrum Exhaust | Wireless - (Comments Off)

Recently, The Hill reported that Representatives Henry Waxman and Anna Eshoo—the ranking members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and its Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, respectively—wrote a letter to Committee Chairman Fred Upton calling for a hearing to examine the proposed sale of wireless spectrum to Verizon by a consortium of cable companies.  Without question, Congress has the authority to hold a hearing on anything they deem relevant at any time they want.  That said, and with all due respect to the powers of the legislative branch, it is unclear what a politically-charged hearing would contribute at this late stage of the review …
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Curbing the FCC’s Ability to Impose “Voluntary” Merger Commitments…

March 6th, 2012 | Posted by Larry Spiwak in FCC Reform | Federal Communications Commission | Law and Economics | Merger Review | Regulatory Reform - (Comments Off)

Over my eighteen years in the telecommunications business, one of my biggest pet peeves has been the politicization of the Federal Communication Commission’s merger review process.  As I noted in a paper entitled Separating Politics from Policy in FCC Merger Reviews: A Basic Legal Primer of the “Public Interest” Standard I authored with my former colleague Tom Koutsky back in 2007 and subsequently published in an academic journal in 2010, my issue is not that the concept of the “public interest” is vague (it is not), but that both sides of the aisle conveniently ignore the relevant caselaw when it is politically expedient (that is, …
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