FCC Members Hold Off on Vote on $11 Million in DTV Fines
Most of the FCC commissioners are holding back votes on a batch of notices of apparent liability totaling about $11 million against seven cable operators and telcos accused of violating consumer education rules, agency officials said. They said commissioners aren’t voting on an omnibus liability notice (CD Dec 4 p3) because they're waiting to see whether some of the companies settle with the Enforcement Bureau, requiring a rewrite of the document. Chairman Kevin Martin was the only FCC member who had voted as of Monday, a commission official said.
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Some companies facing penalties are thought to have discussed a consent decree with the bureau, commission and industry officials said. AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon are among those threatened with fines. It’s unclear which companies have held settlement talks. Negotiations between the bureau and some of the companies are believed to be continuing, said an FCC official. Commission spokespeople didn’t comment.
The five companies facing fines besides AT&T and Verizon are cable operators, an FCC official said. Those facing fines are accused of violating a commission order released in March, FCC officials said. The order required pay-TV companies and eligible telecommunications carriers receiving federal money to serve poor people to put information on DTV in monthly bills to them. Martin last week announced the fines and sought a vote on them by the Dec. 18 public meeting. He wouldn’t specify the companies or accusations.
Another DTV item set for a vote next week on digital translator stations doesn’t propose requiring broadcasters to use them to fill in their coverage areas after Feb. 17, commission officials clarified. Some industry officials had worried that the rulemaking might pave the way for a requirement that broadcasters replicate their analog coverage area with digital signals. That’s not the case, commission officials said: The notice merely offers DTV translators as one way to transmit digital signals.