Tales of the Sausage Factory – Page 89

Appears that Rose and Lloyd (and me) were right . . .

Harold August 28, 2006 February 23, 2012General, Spectrum, Tales of the Sausage Factory

A month or so back, I reported that Greg Rose and Mark Lloyd had written a study for the Center for American Progress concluding that incumbent wireless providers used spectrum auctions to block the mergence of new competitors. Then came the AWS auction, with its legion of bidders. �A ha!� Declared the Wall St. Journal and others in the anti-net neutrality, anti-regulatory, pro-spectrum property camp. �Look at how the market-based policies create competition! No need for regulation here!�

Turns out, not so much . . . . Either for new spectrum entrants or for broadband competition.

The Federal Trade Commission Gets in on Network Neutrality

Harold August 23, 2006 February 24, 2013Tales of the Sausage Factory

As widely reported, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Deborah Platt Majoras announced that the FTC will look at network neutrality. In the same paragraph, however, she also expressed her doubts on the need for network neutrality legislation. That, combined with her choice of forum (Progress and Freedom Foundation’s Aspen Summit; PFF is a vigorous opponent of NN), the FTC’s natural bias toward post-conduct remedies rather than prophylactic regulation, and Majoras’ decision to sign off on the Adelphia transaction without considering the voluminous evidence collected by the FCC make me suspect that the FTC will conclude that Congress should take no action and that antitrust solves everything.

A bit more analysis below.

Back From Vacation And FCC Auction Still Going On . . . .

Harold August 21, 2006 February 24, 2013Tales of the Sausage Factory

As I guessed, the FCC AWS Spectrum Acution continues apace. My two weeks off proving an insufficient time for the wonkiest and most expensive of online multiplayer games — spectrum auctions.

You can track the “action” (as we must call it) here. A quick flip through the current standings yields some interesting patterns so far. The DBS Wireless partnership, Wireless DBS LLC, started with some strong positions on regional licenses. Over time, they have been forced out by Spectrum Co (the Comcast/TW/Sprint group), AWS Wireless (the Salmesi “wild card”) and traditional cell phone cos. Dolan family (Cablevision) took a position in the NYC market (its home base) but also appears to have been knocked out.

A look at the overall stats in round 29 shows that T-Mobile, unsurprisingly, has the lead bid on the most licenses — 129. Spectrum Co comes in nest with 96. After that, there is a significant drop off in the number and nature of licenses held, with traditional cellular companies Cingular and Cricket holding 43 each. Interestingly, AWS is next, with 38. There follows a list of smaller fry with diminishing numbers of licenses in less desirable territories. Of the cable players aside from Comcast/TW, only Cable One (Washington Post) continues to have a presence with 24 licenses.

Unless something dramatic happens, the auction is unlikely to yield a drisuptive player/new competitor (unless one counts Spectrum Co).

More after I unpack and look at the stats.

Stay tuned . . . .

Handicaping This Week’s Big Spectrum Auction

Harold August 8, 2006 February 23, 2012General, Spectrum, Tales of the Sausage Factory

And what a long strange trip its been to get here! In 2004, Congress passed the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act (CSEA), which required government users to vacate some choice spectrum so the FCC can auction it. You can see the FCC’s official page for this auction here. You can see my recent general musings on this auction on the Public Knowledge policy blog here.

But none of this tells the whole story. After two controversial rulemakings, a pending legal challenge, and the appearance of a host of new bidders, FCC Auction 66: AWS-1 is ready to start this week on August 9. A look at the list of who has come to play signals an auction of unparalleled visciousness, determination, and probable manipulation by sophisticated bidders because the FCC wussed out and did not adopt anonymous bidding.

For those interested in my handicaping what a report from the Center for American Progress describes as a corrupt means by which incumbents keep out competitors and what I have called �a really wonky version of Worlds of Warcraft,� read on!

Donna Edwards v. Al Wynn: A Microcosm in More Ways Than One

Harold August 8, 2006 February 24, 2013Tales of the Sausage Factory

Art Brodsky has written an excellent blog post at TPMCafe on how progressive lawyer Donna Edwards’ demorcatic primary challenge for incumbent democrat Al Wynn’s seat has gone virtually unnoticed in the press.

Like the much better covered competition between incumbent Joe Leiberman and challenger Ned Lamont, the Edwards/Wynn race pits frustrated progressive democrats against a multi-term incumbent they feel has become too much a part of the system. But for all the coverage of the challenge to Senator Joe Leiberman up in Connecticut, no one in my local media has seen fit to cover exactly the same sort of challenge right here in our own backyard.

This makes the Edwards/Wynn race much more a microcosm for elections around the country. We bemoan the high rate of incumbent reelection, but fail to notice the local media plays in all this. Not by exhibiting famed media bias, but by refusing to cover local races, denying challengers an opportunity to discuss issues with the electorate and denying challengers the exposure they need to overcome the enormous advantage an incumbent has in name recognition and organization.

Contrary to popular belief, we really can do something to give challengers like Donna Edwards a fighting chance to get the exposure they need to make incumbents actively defend their seats and worry about being accountable to voters every two years. The FCC has siting in front of it a rulemaking that would give candidates free air time and force broadcasters to provide substantive coverage of local news.

At the same time, the FCC also has in front of it proposals that would make the situation for political challengers even more difficult. If the Republican majority on the FCC succeeds in relaxing the media ownership rules and allows the same company to own a daily paper, up to three television stations, the local cable system, and radio stations all in the same market, that company decides who gets exposure and who disappears from view. The odds may be bad for challengers now, but they could indeed be much worse.

Details below.

FCC Staff really starting to get the hang of this “enforcement” thing . . .

Harold August 4, 2006 February 24, 2013Tales of the Sausage Factory

In another sign that the FCC has gotten serious in crackdown on cable abuse of market power — and that this message has penetrated to the staff level — consider the case of the NFL Network and Time Warner.

Enforcement Staff Respond to Application of Clue By Four to Head

Harold August 1, 2006 February 24, 2013Tales of the Sausage Factory

After the very public tongue-lashing from FCC Commissioner McDowell as part of deciding the Comcast/TW/Adelphia transaction, the “lazy and indolent bureaucracy” charged with processing cable complaints has finally issued an Order designating for hearing MASN’s complaint that Comcast refuses to air the DC Nationals games violates the law. Sort of. There are a few interesting little oddities, as well as a big, heapin’ WHAT THE HECK TOOK SO LONG!

We’ll have to see if they now move to the other proceedings — such as the leased access rulemaking — promised in the Adelphia Order, or if this is just a one shot because Washington Nationals coverage (or lack thereof) has become such a sore point for folks here in DC. But it gives some modest hope that (at least for the moment) the FCC has some genuine interest in actually enforcing the laws already on the books that limit the ability of cable operators to abuse their market power.

Colbert Takes on the Morning “News”

Harold July 28, 2006 February 24, 2013Tales of the Sausage Factory

Not to be outdone by Jon Stewarts superb explanation of net neutrality, Steven Colbert gives a most excellent slam on the hollowness of today’s morning “news” shows. You can watch here.

The sad thing is that Colbert is right (“as always!” he would add) in a number of critical respects. First, his show actually does more in depth political reporting than most news shows. His “434 part series ‘Better Know A District’ (he eliminated Connigham’s district)” is actually very revealing. Second, so called morning “news” shows are to real news as “People” is to real news magazines.

There's funny “ha ha” and there's funny “patheticly lame” . . . .

Harold July 24, 2006 February 24, 2013Tales of the Sausage Factory

As anyone who watches television or movies knows, some things are outrageously funny because they hit the comedy bone just right. Other things are unintentionally funny. They come accross as so lame, so sad, so pathetic, that you can’t help but laugh.

Net Neutrality has produced some fine examples of both. No doubt I show my biases by finding many more examples of genuinely funny stuff in the pro-NN camp and many more examples of pathetically lame in the anti-NN camp. But two recent examplars absolutely stand out.

But Do Spectrum Auctions Really Suck? According to Center for American Progress Report, You bet!

Harold July 21, 2006 February 15, 2012Spectrum, Tales of the Sausage Factory

In all the hustle and bustle, it rather blew by that my friends Dr. Gregory Rose and Mark Lloyd have written this analysis of ten years of FCC spectrum auction data.

Summary � FCC auctions turn out to be great ways for incumbents to exclude new entrants and to bilk the government. They do not yield the promised efficiencies of distribution or even maximize revenue to the government. There are ways to improve the process, but the FCC open ascending auction systems just about ensures that a collection of incumbents can keep out any genuinely disruptive competitors and collude to minimize revenue to the government and maintain the status quo.