It’s all buzzy buzzy out there about Federal Communications Commission Chair Tom Wheeler’s new proposed net neutrality rules, which rest on reclassifying broadband as a utility, thus worthy of Title II telecommunications regulation. Wheeler has a statement posted on Wired. Those who thought he would never do this are happily eating their hats. The telcos are […]
At last month’s Consumer Electronics Show FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler announced that the agency would reclassify internet service as a utility, which should qualify it for stronger network neutrality protections. Wheeler promised the new rules would circulate to fellow commissioners by February 5, and news reports on Monday indicate that he will make good on […]
The FCC’s Media Bureau has been busy since our last update, granting fifty-six new construction permits for low-power FM stations. That’s the biggest one-week total in a year! The deluge is mostly due to the Commission beginning to pick winners in groups competing for frequencies in the third MX window states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, […]
New York radio station WXNY-FM is being asked to pay a $20,000 penalty because it aired Emergency Alert System (EAS) tones as part of a comedy sketch on the January 28, 2014 episode of the Luis Jimenez Show. (more…)
NPR has weighed in on the Federal Communications Commissions proceeding on whether to let digital Low Power TV stations run FM signals off of the 87.7 frequency, which dovetails with channel 6. The FCC has folded the question into a larger discussion about DTV spectrum use, but NPR calls the FM proposal “misguided” and “premature and […]
As I perused the list of the most recent call sign changes issued by the FCC, I found some interesting tidbits. The call sign for the former Vanderbilt University FM radio station, WRVU, is making a terrestrial radio comeback of sorts (WRVU.org is still used by an online station at Vanderbilt, but the now sold […]
The Federal Communications Commission’s proceeding on whether to permit Low Power TV stations to broadcast FM on channel 6 (87.7 FM) has reached its formal deadline: January 12 (backgrounder here). The FCC rolled the question into a whole suite of issues facing LPTV. Of interest to us is a defense of the channel 6 FM […]
Amateur radio operators are weighing in on the hotel industry’s petition to the Federal Communications Commission asking for authority to “manage” Wi-Fi hot spots used by hotel patrons. In October the FCC hit Marriott with a $600k fine for blocking personal Wi-Fi networks at its Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Meanwhile […]
In another instance of the FCC giving student-run college radio stations a break, Framingham State University radio station WDJM-FM in Framingham, Massachusetts agreed to pay a lesser penalty of $1,200 for public file violations. According to a Consent Decree adopted on December 31, 2014, the university agreed to pay the penalty and set up a […]
On Wednesday FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler stunned many at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas by announcing that the agency will move to reclassify broadband internet as a utility. During an on-stage conversation with Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Sharpiro, Wheeler said that new rules based under so-called Title II provisions would be circulated […]
