Tom Wheeler, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, will be a keynote speaker at The INCOMPAS Show, delivering his address on Monday, April 11 at 4 p.m.

The INCOMPAS Show takes place April 10 -13, 2016, at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center, near Washington, D.C.

"Competition has no better friend than Chairman Tom Wheeler," said INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering. "He has set the FCC on a historic path that will open markets and speed the transition to advanced network services that benefit consumers and business customers. The chairman has made good on his promise of competition, competition, competition and we look forward to his remarks on the future for new network builders."

Register Today

For more information or to register for The INCOMPAS Show, visit show.incompas.org.

If you want to be where the action is, be sure to book your room at our host hotel, the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center. In order to qualify for our exclusive room rates, you must first be registered for The INCOMPAS Show.

FCC Charts Course for Competition in Set-Top Box Market

On February 18, the FCC voted to begin a process designed to tear down anti-competitive barriers and pave the way for software, devices and other innovative solutions to compete with the set-top boxes that a majority of consumers lease from pay-TV providers today. The NPRM will create a framework for providing innovators, device manufacturers, and app developers the information they need to develop new technologies, reflecting the many ways consumers access their subscription video programming today.

In response to the FCC action, INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering said, "Competition is the key to unlocking monopoly control of the set-top box marketplace. In the tech industry, competition is always the prerequisite for sparking innovation that will bring consumers lower prices and more choices. The FCC action will make it easier for consumers to access new streaming services that provide original, diverse and award-winning content. This is the start of a process and national conversation to bring relief to consumers who are tired of high prices and cable company control of their television. The FCC action today has the potential to launch new ideas, new companies and an entire new industry for the video market.

"We applaud the FCC for following the bipartisan direction of Congress, which instructed the Commission to give consumers more choices in the video device market," Pickering added. "We thank Chairman Tom Wheeler for his leadership, and Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel for their commitment to competition and look forward to continuing our conversation with Commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O'Rielly on our shared goals."

Pickering addressed the set-top box market in a blog last week in Medium, entitled "On The Set-Top Box, You Know Best." He also was featured in this WIRED story on the effort to unlock the box. And papers around the nation have editorialized in favor of ending the set top box monopoly in favor of more competition, including, the USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and the Boston Globe.

INCOMPAS Files Replies in Special Access Proceeding

On February 19, INCOMPAS filed reply comments in the special access proceeding.

In its comments, INCOMPAS noted that "[w]hat is quite evident is that the large incumbent carriers still have market power stemming from their ubiquitous network, large customer bases, and economies of scale and scope resulting from decades of being protected monopolists and that they use that dominance in an anti-competitive manner to thwart competition. The Commission cannot wait and just hope for what the record demonstrates is infeasible in the foreseeable future - multiple builds to every location. The Commission must take swift and comprehensive action to prevent the exercise of market power by adopting safeguards that ensure that these critical services are offered at rates, terms and conditions that are just, reasonable and non-discriminatory."

FCC to Examine State of
Video Programming Diversity

On February 18, the FCC issued a Notice of Inquiry to begin a conversation on the state of independent and diverse programming. The NOI seeks comments on the principal challenges independent video programmers face in gaining carriage of their content on both traditional and emerging distribution platforms. This action will help the Commission assess the current state of video programming diversity and determine whether further action is needed to promote independent programming sources.

March 2 Webinar Explains How to Turn Unused Calls into Revenue

On Wednesday, March 2, Scott Richards, chairman of DIAL800 and CEO of Reconnect Research, will lead a free webinar where you can learn how to "Turn Your Unused Calls into Revenue."

More than 5 billion misdialed, incomplete, disconnected and inbound (MIDI) calls are made each month costing carriers millions of dollars. Reconnect Research has developed a technology that connects MIDI calls to market research surveys. Until now no one benefited from MIDI calls - the caller didn't connect to their intended party and the carrier didn't profit from the telephone traffic. But with Reconnect Research's solutions:

Consumers - A positive alternative to Robocalls, consumers can share their opinion and get a reward
Carriers - Profit rather than lose from MIDI telephone traffic
Researchers - Get quality data at a lower cost with faster data collection and analysis

During this webinar, Richards will:

Explain who benefits from inbound telephone MIDI calls
Discuss steps you can take to begin monetizing your misdials
Share one carrier's case study results.

The webinar will take place from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET. To attend, register here.