FCC Meeting for November 3... It Just Keeps Getting Stranger

FCC MEETING FOR NOVEMBER 3... IT JUST KEEPS GETTING STRANGER
[SOURCE: Tales from the Sausage Factory, AUTHOR: Harold Feld]
[Commentary] The FCC has issued the agenda for it's November 3 meeting. Gone is the proposed Notice of Inquiry on Network Neutrality. And a number of non-merger related items have popped up instead. Meanwhile, the trade press report a hot and heavy debate around forcing AT&T to divest wireless spectrum to create a real competitor. What is extremely interesting to note is the absence of the proposed Notice of Inquiry (“NOI”) on Network Neutrality. This item was a compromise proposal by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to move Net Neutrality out of a “merger specific” review and out into a general “industry rulemaking.” Apparently, FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein made it clear that they would not agree to any sort of Network Neutrality NOI as a substitute for merger conditions. So, will the merger really be approved on Friday? Not likely. It is a complicated proposal made more so by a proposal to require AT&T to divest its 2.3 GHz and 2.5 GHz spectrum licenses. Stay tuned.
http://www.wetmachine.com/totsf/item/626

* For more on the FCC's Nov 3 meeting see http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-268215A1.doc