Federal Communication Commission

Aiming to further level the playing field between cable television and its fledgling rivals, the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday approved new rules against exclusive cable programming deals. The agency's five members voted to resolve rivals' complaints about access to cable programming more quickly by setting time limits for settling disputes. The agency also signaled that it will levy financial penalties on companies that willfully violate program access rules.

The U.S. government plans to pursue bid-rigging charges against participants in a multibillion-dollar federal auction of licenses for wireless personal communications services, according to a federal securities document. The threat of civil antitrust lawsuits was disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by 21st Century Telesis II Inc.

Fearful that a new generation of high-speed cable and wireless networks will relegate them to the towpath of the information highway, America Online Inc. and other Internet service providers are lobbying government and industry officials for access to those networks. In papers filed last week with the Federal Communications Commission and in talks with AT&T Corp.

The Federal Communications Commission adopted hotly debated rules Tuesday to prevent local governments from slapping curbs on where homeowners and businesses can place television antennas and dishes. The regulations prohibit local laws, rules, private covenants and homeowner association rules that spoil TV reception--be it traditional broadcast, satellite-delivered or so-called wireless cable TV transmitted over radio waves and received via a dish.

Federal regulators on Tuesday unveiled proposals to cut the $23.4 billion fees that long-distance carriers pay local phone companies each year to connect toll calls to businesses and homes. If the Federal Communication Commission's plans are approved and telephone carriers pass along the savings, residential and business customers could see a huge drop in their phone rates.

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said Friday he expects an industry-wide consensus on the format for emerging digital television technology by the end of this year. FCC Chairman Reed Hundt was invited for a presentation at the DreamWorks SKG movie studio by Steven Spielberg, who is leading a drive for sophisticated digital TV standards favored by filmmakers.