Prices in FCC spectrum auctions have been on the rise since the mid-2000s, but factors beyond the tradeoff between supply and demand make it difficult to say that rise is evidence of what the government says is a “spectrum crunch,” said Scott Wallsten, senior vice president-research for the Technology Policy Institute (TPI), at a TPI-led event Friday. In a report released Tuesday, Wallsten examined FCC data from the 69,000 spectrum licenses it has sold through auctions since 1996. The agency has been holding spectrum auctions since 1994. The data included in the report shows that while spectrum prices are continuing to rise, “the rate of price increase has probably been slowing” (http://bit.ly/WmcTWk)

The FCC Emergency Access Advisory Committee (EAAC) heard reports from various working groups Friday as it tries to wrap up a final report by March 11 on communications by the disabled in a next-generation 911 world. The EAAC has been unable to reach consensus on some key issues related to a possible move away from text telephone (TTY) for emergency communications.

Technology’s role in emergency communications dominated the FCC’s second Superstorm Sandy field hearing late Thursday, as did the role of backup power and any possible regulatory requirements. Four of the five commissioners attended the hearing at Moffett Federal Airfield in Santa Clara, Calif., held weeks before the FCC is slated to discuss a rulemaking on emergency communications emanating from its Public Safety Bureau derecho wind storm report recommendations (CD March 1 p2). The hearing included two panels on ways to integrate communications tools like Facebook as well as next-gen technologies and concerns going forward.

The focus of the FCC in March is once again on public safety communications, with a rulemaking likely to force the agency to revisit whether to again impose backup power requirements on carriers. An NPRM for the March 20 meeting, which circulated late Wednesday, raises numerous questions following up on the commission’s January derecho report (CD Jan 11 p3).

FCC Managing Director David Robbins told FCC staff in a town hall meeting Thursday sequester may not mean furloughs for staff, at least initially. But Robbins didn’t provide much detail about what will happen next, agency officials told us. Robbins briefed FCC staff at FCC headquarters and the briefing was carried over the agency’s internal intranet. Staff for the FCC commissioners are to be briefed separately.

Verizon and AT&T are happy that California state regulators are backing off on talk of instituting VoIP provider requirements, they told the regulators this week, while objecting to concerns of consumer advocates. President Michael Peevey of the California Public Utilities Commission filed a proposed draft decision on Jan. 28 that would potentially close one of the CPUC’s dockets on VoIP regulation. That docket focused on a potential rulemaking on how interconnected VoIP providers would contribute to the support of California’s public purpose programs, including the state’s LifeLine program, high-cost funds, its Advanced Services Fund, Teleconnect Fund and the Deaf and Disabled Telecom Program. The proposed decision is part of a two-year proceeding in the state, begun in January 2011. But a California law, SB 1161, passed last fall (CD Oct 2 p7) would restrict state regulation of IP services for the next several years and should kill the proceeding, Peevey argued.

LIN Media chose to build its own mobile marketing platform and hired an industry veteran to do it, after failing to identify a reasonably priced company in that sector to buy, CEO Vincent Sadusky said Thursday during the company’s Q4 earnings call. LIN has been investing in a mobile marketing platform so it can sell ads on its own properties and help its advertising clients place ads elsewhere on the Web and on mobile devices, he said. “We looked at several entities to try to buy and jump start that, given that mobile and social [advertising] are things we'd like to offer to clients,” Sadusky said.

Members of Congress, consumer advocates and former FTC Commissioner Thomas Rosch applauded the news that Commissioner Edith Ramirez has been tapped to lead the FTC. Ramirez will assume the post that was vacated by Jon Leibowitz earlier this year. As a sitting commissioner, she won’t need Senate confirmation to be promoted to chair the agency. “I am deeply honored at the opportunity to lead” the FTC, Ramirez said in a statement Thursday. Ramirez thanked Leibowitz “for his strong leadership” and said she looks “forward to working with my fellow commissioners and the able FTC staff to continue the agency’s proud history of promoting vigorous competition and protecting consumers.” According to the agency, Ramirez will begin serving as chairman on March 4.

The USF/intercarrier compensation order remained intact after the sixth order on reconsideration, released Wednesday. In response to several petitions for reconsideration, the FCC declined to reconsider adoption of its high-cost universal service support rules for rate-of-return carriers, and declined requests to reconsider the monthly per-line cap of $250. The original order “represents a careful balancing of policy goals, equities, and budgetary constraints,” the commission said. The latest iteration did make what Chairman Julius Genachowski called “some modest adjustments” to simplify spending caps and give the Wireline Bureau more flexibility to “maintain certainty regarding year-to-year funding levels.” Commissioner Ajit Pai wrote separately to criticize unpredictable benchmarks he thinks will undermine efficient and prudent decisionmaking by rate-of-return carriers.

The FCC’s interim measures to prevent misuse of the IP Captioned Telephone Service (CTS) saw universal support from commenters, who generally urged that most or all of the interim changes become permanent. The commission adopted the measures in a January order. However, some commenters cautioned that further study is needed before making permanent a default “off” position of IP CTS devices and software to prevent inadvertent use, warning of harm to the hard-of-hearing community.