FCC's 'Bold' Moves To Free Satellite Airwaves

The FCC began discussions this week about increasing the nation's supply of spectrum for mobile broadband services. By removing what it called "unnecessary barriers," the agency is looking to free up flexible use of 40 MHz of additional spectrum currently assigned to the Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) in the 2 GHz band.

The official story line sounds familiar: The proposal will carry out parts of the FCC's National Broadband Plan for stand-alone terrestrial services in this spectrum. The rules are designed to encourage innovation and investment in mobile broadband, and to provide a stable regulatory environment in which broadband deployment can develop in the 2 GHz band.

FCC Chair Julius Genachowski said the Commission has been working for three years to address the nation's "spectrum crunch," and freeing up this spectrum will help "mobile broadband to grow our economy and enhance our global competitiveness.

BTIG's Walter Piecyk called the FCC's plan 'bold,' saying included dramatic swaps of spectrum could free up a 30x30 MHz block of auctionable spectrum while simultaneously addressing any windfall concerns in issuing DISH a valuable waiver of its spectrum. On the downside, the analyst said, the new plan would "orphan" the H-Block which has particular value to Sprint because it sits right next to the narrowband 5x5 MHz of G-Block that the carrier is using for its LTE buildout.

Still, many consider the new plan (mostly) a win for DISH. Says Stifel Nicolaus analyst Christopher King, "We believe the FCC has given DISH a reasonable opportunity to offer wireless broadband service, a prospect that could attract potential suitors and increase the value of its spectrum."  However, the analyst writes, let's not get carried away: The FCC is unlikely to permit a "quick and easy windfall" sale of the spectrum and DISH will likely face strict build-out penalties. •

Study: Self-Help Reduces Call Center Probs

A new survey says service providers have a "massive opportunity" to reduce call center costs and traffic by creating effective self-service channels for existing customers. According to research firm Coleman Parkes, providers can do wonders for subscribers by developing accessible self-help capabilities while leveraging customer insight to proactively prevent and eliminate service calls.

Results from the study include:

• Improving Online Support: The study shows 75% consumers said they would prefer to use online support if it were reliable, but only 37% even attempt to use self-service options, which are often perceived as inaccurate or incomplete. The firm says an overwhelming 91% of customers say they would use a single, online knowledge base if it were available and tailored to their needs.   

• Under-Used Social Media Channels: Coleman says more than half of all respondents (54%) have complained directly to their service provider through social media channels, but 73% said they did not receive satisfactory answers.

• Call Center Communication: A lack of satisfactory online support is driving large numbers of consumers to call centers, wasting valuable resources. The study says more than 40% of customers contact a call center after they cannot find answers to their question via self-service and up to 50% of "How do I …?" calls could be deflected to self-care channels.

• Expecting Proactive Care: Coleman said 96% of customers expect problem notification without having to ask, preempting calls to a call center. Should a problem emerge with service setup or equipment, the study said, owners should be proactively sent the solution without having to call the service provider. •

Etc: VIA Ratings Slide – Comcast, Liberty Team for Integrate – IP&TV Winners

Programming:  It's not just Nickelodeon .... ratings at MTV, Comedy Central and BET are also on the ratings slide, says the NY Post. "Not even SpongeBob SquarePants can bail them out of this one." --- Fox's worldwide premiere of "Touch," starring Kiefer Sutherland, lit up near simultaneously yesterday in 100 countries and territories.  More from the NYT. --- Netflix will offer an original horror program, "Hemlock Grove" to its subs next year.

Deals:  Comcast Ventures and Liberty Global are combining to to support multiplatform ad-optimization and audience analysis startup Integrate. They'll kick in $11M for a round of equity funding; existing investor Foundry Group has already raised $15.5M. --- IHS Inc. has acquired IMS Research in order to help "expand our products and services in the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) value chain, and better position IHS to deliver a more robust product offering to our customers in the global technology marketplace,” said Chairman and CEO Jerre Stead. --- Scripps Networks will acquire Travel Channel International for £65M ($103M).

Awards:  Among familiar winners at the 2012 IP&TV Industry Awards: Telstra for Best TV Service Innovation; DIRECTV and Samsung for Best Multiscreen TV Service; Motorola Mobility for Best Rights and Asset Management for TV; and AT&T for Best TV App.

Up, Over & Under:  Jain TV Group's Noida Software Technology Park Limited (whew!), the leading Indian provider of satellite broadcast infrastructure services, said it will use Intelsat to deploy a HITS (Headend in the Sky) platform in India by 2014.

Battlegrounds:  The D.C. battle over Verizon Wireless' proposed ~$4B (combined) purchase of cable company wireless spectrum has turned to questions of duopoly as the Rural Cellular Assn's Steven Berry argued before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary the deal would strengthen the current duopoly of Verizon and AT&T and that it is "effectively a non-compete agreement."  Arguing for the transaction, Comcast's David Cohen said the deal is "no merger" and would not remove any competitor from the marketplace. --- TiVo and Microsoft have called a truce in their patent war after TiVo settled with Microsoft partner AT&T.  AT&T agreed to pay at least $215M for TiVo tech through June 2018.

Analyze This:  Jumping into great OWN controversy (will the net make it?  will Discovery continue to fund it?), researchers at SNL Kagan spin the numbers and conclude, "Reigning in costs will only do so much to keep Discovery Communications Inc. from pulling the plug on the network if ratings continue to remain low."  Added the researchers, "Net-net, we estimate that OWN lost $107 million on a cash-flow basis in 2011, but Discovery has invested much more." Discovery pooh-poohed the findings saying "The report is riddled with inaccuracies and bad information."  More from Bloomberg.

--- Catch today's media market news in The Evening BRIDGE. •