Truck Stop Operator Wants Fresh FCC Look at TV Waiver
The chain of 270 truck stops seeking FCC approval to run a microwave digital TV service wants a fresh look at its waiver request, it told commissioners late Monday. Clarity Media wants action on its request to start the service at its Flying J truck stops and shared with FCC members comments from hundreds of truck drivers supporting it. On his last day as chairman, Kevin Martin circulated a Media Bureau order to allow the service (CD Jan 27 p4). But FCC members never voted on it despite the interest of some (CD May 21 p2). The item remains on circulation without prospects for quick approval, commission officials said.
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“It’s a case that’s not high on the radar screen at the commission and it should be at the center of the radar screen,” said lawyer Howard Topel of Lerman Senter, representing Clarity. “The merits speak for themselves and one has to hope that the commission will do the right thing.” The e-mails are so “commissioners know the extent of how widespread the interest is among both the trucker community and the public safety community,” he added.
Clarity has said its DTV service will aid public safety because it will include Amber alerts on missing children and other crimes. But broadcasters and some wireless companies have opposed the request on concerns the service will cause interference to wireless spectrum and airwaves used to transmit TV stations’ video from live shots. “We hope that, after a wonderful holiday, the Commissioners will return to work next week with a strong commitment and firm resolve to reach an immediate resolution of this protracted case,” an e- mail from Topel to FCC members and their advisers said.
There’s been little eighth-floor discussion of the waiver request in recent months and it doesn’t seem poised for quick approval, said FCC officials. Commissioner Michael Copps, when he was interim chairman, asked the bureau to revise the order so he could circulate it, said one. But a new order wasn’t circulated, FCC officials said. A bureau spokeswoman declined to comment.
The Association of Maximum Service Television remains opposed to the waiver request, President David Donovan said. “This will have a direct negative impact on our ability to do local live news. And the irony here is that they want to provide a commercial service that cuts across every single channel we use to provide live local newscasts,” he added. “The engineering is clear: There will be interference and reduction of service far beyond the confines of their truck stops.”