July 2008

The nation's top technology companies have spent millions of dollars and nearly two years building devices, poring over laptops and working in federal labs trying to come up with a new way of providing high-speed Internet to bandwidth-hungry cities as well as hard-to-reach rural regions. Last week, the companies moved from lab to field. Engineers from the technology heavyweights, including Motorola and Philips, lugged their laptops, antennas and other equipment to parks, homes and high-rises around the Washington area, hoping to prove to the Federal Communications Commission that the unlicensed airwaves between television stations, known as white spaces, could provide a new form of mobile Internet service.

AT&T said second-quarter net income jumped 30%, to $3.7 billion, as operating revenue rose 4.7%, to $30.86 billion. It also reported adjusted operating margins of 37.3%, beating the expectation of some analysts. The largest US phone company's profit jump suggests that the economic slump may not be as harsh as expected for some telecom service providers. Some of the strength came from cost cuts, and the economic slowdown is crimping demand for some services, including high-speed Internet access. AT&T continues to bleed access lines and could not cover that lost revenue with improved broadband sales. But AT&T was able to offset weaknesses through ongoing demand in such areas as wireless calling.
AT&T Net Rises 30% Despite Weaknesses

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and ranking member Arlen Specter (R-PA) will join Sens. Evan Bayh (D-IN) and George Voinovich (R-OH) on today in unveiling new legislation intended to boost government efforts to crack down on counterfeiting and piracy. The bill is expected to reflect a compromise of a number of intellectual property rights proposals introduced this session and strengthen federal resources and authorities to combat IP crimes.

ok, here's what we think we know. On Tuesday morning, Federal Communications Commission member Jonathan Adelstein voted against the proposed merger between Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio after the companies refused to embrace any of his proposed conditions to win his support for the deal. That left FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and Commissioner Robert McDowell for the merger and Commissioners Adelstein and Copps against it. Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, as expected, became the deciding vote. She's indicated she will vote in favor of the buyout if the companies agree to settle charges they have violated agency rules, in addition to other lesser promises. Lawyers from both companies have met several times in the past two weeks with Tate and agency enforcement officials. The discussions appear to have involved the use of ground-based signal repeaters, used by the companies to ensure adequate coverage in all parts of the country. In one document, XM stated that it had been operating some of its repeaters in violation of FCC rules. Late Wednesday, the status of the enforcement action was unknown, but published reports indicate the companies were expected to enter into a consent decree and pay the FCC $20 million. The companies have agreed to submit to a number of conditions, including a three-year price cap, setting aside 8 percent of "full-time audio channels" for public interest and minority programming and adoption of an "open radio" standard that was less specific than what Adelstein was proposing.