Selected portions of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, and/or the BloostonLaw Private Users Update —newsletters from the Law Offices of Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP are reproduced in this section with the firm's permission. 
| BloostonLaw Telecom Update | Vol. 16, No. 35 | October 2, 2013 |
Special Edition
Government Shutdown Continues, Deadlines Affected Although the FCC continues to be closed for business due to the government shutdown which began on October 1, 2013, clients should still be keeping track of relevant deadlines and making the appropriate preparations for filing once the agency reopens. Suspended filing deadlines — Although filings cannot be made with the FCC during the shutdown, they will be due two days after the lapse in funding ends, leaving clients with a very short window to make any such filings. For example, if the lapse in funding ended on a Monday, the FCC would return to normal operations on Tuesday morning, and any filings that were due during the shutdown would be due on Wednesday. Any filings that are due during the shutdown should still be prepared in a timely fashion. Refer to the Calendar-at-a-Glance at the end of this edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Updates for suspended filings. Not all deadlines are suspended — Only deadlines for filings with the FCC are suspended during the shutdown. Eligible Telecommunications Carriers' Form 481 filing is still due with USAC, and with the relevant state commission and tribal authority (as appropriate), on October 15, 2013. Ongoing obligations — Obligations of carriers are not suspended; for example, the tribal engagement requirements associated with the annual eligible telecommunications carrier report must still be undertaken by recipients of high-cost support. Our Auction No. 73 700 MHz licensees should continue to work towards meeting their Dec. 2013 interim construction deadline; and our paging auction clients should continue making progress toward preparation of their interim construction showing or substantial service election that falls due in November.
Senate Postpones Hearing on FCC Nomination of Michael O'Rielly On October 2, 2013, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, Transportation issued a notice announcing it has postponed the Executive Session hearing previously scheduled for October 3, 2013, to vote on the nomination of Michael O'Rielly to be an FCC Commissioner, among other items. When confirmed, Mr. O'Rielly would continue the remaining term of former Commissioner McDowell, which runs until July 1, 2014 (after which he will need to be re-nominated). It is likely that the delay in the vote on the nomination of O'Rielly will also delay the confirmation hearing of new FCC Chairman nominee, Tom Wheeler. At this time, the hearing has not been rescheduled. Satellite Operator LightSquared Headed for Auction Block, DISH Circles The years-long saga of LightSquared and its quest to use repurposed satellite spectrum as the basis for a terrestrial broadband network may soon draw to a close as a bankruptcy court in New York has ordered an auction of LightSquared's assets — including spectrum licenses — for late November. News reports have identified a company owned by DISH Network, L-Band Acquisition Corp. (LBAC), as the lead bidder for the spectrum assets, with an offer of $2.2 billion. The bankruptcy court approved LBAC's "stalking horse" bid and set November 25th as the deadline for competing offers. Under the court's order, LightSquared's principal shareholder, Harbinger Capital Partners, may enter its own bid for LightSquared's spectrum assets, or LightSquared may opt to proceed with a Chapter 11 restructuring plan. Reports also say that DISH Chairman Charlie Ergen has already purchased a large part of LightSquared's debt. Having failed this past spring/summer in its attempts to acquire Sprint and Clearwire, DISH would presumably use LightSquared's 40 MHz of L-band spectrum for a new type of network or partnership. DISH appears to be intent on becoming a player in the mobile wireless industry one way or another, and it currently has a significant amount of Lower 700 MHz E-Block spectrum (a 6 MHz unpaired channel) from an FCC auction in 2008, and the so-called AWS-4 spectrum it acquired from two bankrupt satellite companies in 2011. To date, however, DISH has not had much success in developing a viable terrestrial network. Unlike Lower 700 MHz A- and B-Block licensees, DISH and other 700 MHz E-Block licensees were not granted interim buildout extensions by the FCC. As a result, they were obligated to provide signal coverage and offer service over at least 35 percent of the geographic area of each of their license authorizations no later than June 13, 2013. However, so far as we are aware, DISH has only tested a number of mobile TV services in the E-Block (such as game day data and entertainment services to fans at sports venues); and it has not deployed commercial service. Moreover, the service tests only took place in a handful of DISH's E-Block markets, so the company is facing an uphill battle in demonstrating "meaningful efforts" to utilize its licensed spectrum. DISH filed extension requests with its 700 MHz buildout showings back in June, and it recently amended its requests with a proposal saying it planned to deploy an LTE network using the Lower 700 MHz E-Block with its AWS-4 spectrum. DISH is reportedly asking the FCC to set a new buildout deadline of 2017 for covering 40 percent of its licensed POPs, and 70 percent by 2021. Samsung Loses Bid For U.S. Veto of Import Ban Bloomberg reports that Samsung Electronics appealed to President Obama for the right to keep importing smartphones and tablets found earlier to infringe Apple's patents. Although Apple had received similar relief, Samsung did not get its wish. United States Trade Representative Michael Froman (the administration official tasked with reviewing the case) has denied Samsung's request for relief. The administration's import ban decision cannot be appealed, but companies can take the underlying patent infringement finding to a Federal appeals court. On August 3, 2013, the Obama administration overturned an import ban won by Samsung against older versions of Apple's iPhone 4 and iPad 2 3G. Samsung's basic argument in support of its request to continue importing the phones into the United States was that maintaining the import ban on certain Samsung products would be seen globally as reflecting a pro-American bias, i.e., as protectionism. "The world is watching how Samsung is treated by the United States in this 'smartphone war,' " Samsung stated in an August 28, 2013 pleading to the U. S. Trade Representative. Samsung went on to say that "the administration has a significant interest in avoiding the perception of favoritism and protectionism toward U. S. companies." Prior to the issuance of his decision, Mr. Froman stated in an interview that he had made it quite clear to Samsung and the South Korean government that his decisions have nothing to do with the nationalities of the parties, and that decisions are made on policy judgments over patents and the appropriate use of exclusion orders. After the latest order was issued, the administration said that the nationality of the two companies played no role in the decision. At least one outside expert, Juan Dong Joon, a patent lawyer with SU Intellectual Property in Seoul, considered it unlikely that Samsung would succeed before the U.S. Trade Representative. "Samsung may have to take comfort from the fact that [the phones] that will be banned are old products," he said. While Samsung has lost its case before the U.S. Trade Representative, the fact that the decision involves older phone models may indicate that, as a practical matter, the dispute may end up being more of a tempest in a teapot than a no-holds-barred confrontation between the two companies. In addition to being Apple's biggest competitor, Samsung is also one of Apple's largest component suppliers. According to industry experts, this ongoing business relationship, coupled with the fact that the wireless handset market changes rapidly, means that eventually the companies will have to reach an agreement. Microsoft-HTC Venture May Be In the Works HTC, a Taiwanese company that was an early innovator in smartphone technology, has reportedly been approached by Microsoft with a request to add the Windows operating system to HTC's Android handsets. While HTC has offered phones with Windows, all Windows phones constitute a very small minority of the handset market which is dominated by phones with the Android operating system. While Windows phones may have attractive features, they have far fewer apps available than Android, which may be one reason why Windows phones have not sold as well. Although Microsoft will be in the smartphone business once its deal to acquire Nokia's mobile division closes, adding Windows to HTC's Android phones may help to further increase acceptance of the Windows operating system. HTC may be receptive to Microsoft's overtures. Despite the fact that the release of the HTC One earlier this year was greeted with rave reviews, the company has struggled with component procurement and shipping delays, patent disputes and strong competition from Samsung's Galaxy S4. Once the top-selling smartphone manufacturer in the U.S., HTC announced that it had lost just over $100 million in the third quarter — the company's first loss since 2008, according to information released by Bloomberg. Having two operating systems in a single phone, with the user given the choice of which to use at any given moment, would certainly be novel and could prove to be of benefit to both HTC and Microsoft. Calendar At A Glance
Suspended Deadlines—Due the day after the FCC returns to business. Comments on proposed changes to FCC Form 555 (annual Lifeline ETC certification). Upcoming Deadlines—Due as indicated Oct. 14 — Deadline to seek extension of CALM Act small provider grace period.
Oct. 15 — Filing deadline for FCC Form 481
Oct. 16 — Reply Comments are due on FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on E-Rate 2.0.
Oct. 16 — Reply Comments are due on FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Advanced Wireless Services.
Oct. 17 — Comments are due on NECA's 2014 Modification of the Average Schedule Universal Service High-Cost Loop Support Formula.
Oct. 28 — Responses to FCC Census Blocks that price cap carriers have requested funding to serve as part of the second round of CAF Phase I are due.
Nov. 1 — FCC Form 499-Q is due.
Nov. 1 — Reply Comments are due on FCC's guidelines for human exposure to RF electromagnetic fields.
Nov. 1 — Reply comments are due on NECA's 2014 Modification of the Average Schedule Universal Service High-Cost Loop Support Formula.
Nov. 4 — Comments on the continuation of the BroadbandMatch website tool are due.
Nov. 18 — Comments to revise and update the record on cramming are due.
Dec. 2 — Reply Comments to revise and update the record on cramming are due. Due as indicated. | 
David George and Bill Noyes
