SAN JOSE, Calif. -- AT&T thinks restrictions on collecting and using information about customers and their actions online should be reduced for telcos and raised to the same level for cable companies and Web publishers, an executive said. Telcos come under “rules that other players in the environment don’t have,” and they apply beyond the wireline voice business that has long been heavily regulated, said Sherry Ramsey, assistant vice president for regulatory planning and policy.

Factors including cost, lack of digital literacy and access are preventing older Americans from getting online, panelists said at a conference by Project GOAL (Get Older Adults online) Thursday. The FCC is actively working on implementation of the National Broadband Plan, said John Horrigan, the agency’s consumer research director.

The FCC received thousands of filings this week in response to its inquiry seeking comments on reclassifying broadband transmission under Title II of the Communications Act, making broadband subject to common carrier regulation. Comments were due Thursday. The FCC remains sharply divided, with few signs that the FCC’s three Democrats, who support reclassification, or two Republicans, in sharp opposition, have moderated their views.

Portable devices that receive mobile DTV broadcasts were exempted from FCC rules that they contain tuners capable of getting regular analog and digital broadcasts, in a Media Bureau decision Thursday afternoon. Cellphones, PDAs, laptops, dongles and devices used in autos can exclude analog and/or ATSC A/53 digital TV signal reception if they can get mobile broadcasts using A/153. The products must be designed to be used “in motion” and give notice to consumers on the package and in certain cases at point of sale about which types of signals can’t be received.

The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved amended Internet accessibility legislation by Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and John Kerry, D-Mass., in a voice vote Thursday morning. The bill (S-3304) aims to increase the number of hearing aid-compatible phones, improve access to 911 emergency services, and expand and update closed captioning and video description requirements. Democrats and Republicans supported the bill, despite lingering concerns by consumer electronics companies (CD July 15 p12) .

A revamped rural health care telecom subsidy program should help more health facilities use broadband to connect to the outside world, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said. The commission initiated a rulemaking Thursday to change the rules of the USF program based on lessons learned from the Rural Health Care Pilot Program. The original program failed to live up to its potential, Commissioner Michael Copps said. In most years it disbursed less than 20 percent of the $400 million that could be spent.

The FCC voted to loosen rules in the 2 GHz band allocated to mobile satellite services Thursday, opening the process toward making MSS spectrum more accessible for terrestrial broadband. The rulemaking also would make MSS spectrum fall within secondary market spectrum leasing policies already in place in other bands. A separate notice of inquiry adopted Thursday focuses on eliciting investment in MSS spectrum and how to handle the increased value of the spectrum. The proceedings are part of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan.

FCC proposals to reclassify broadband transmission under Title II of the Communications Act and impose net neutrality rules on the industry could have a chilling effect on investment in broadband, two analysts and an investor said Wednesday. Telecom companies look at whether there is the “commercial opportunity” for more profits by increasing investment in broadband, Citigroup Managing Director Mike Rollins said at a panel at a New York Law School. “Investors like certainty and visibility of policy,” he said. “The reason it’s so important in telecom is these investments are very long term in nature.”

Cablevision faces a second complaint under revised program-access rules that recently took effect. AT&T Wednesday made good on its threat last month to make an amended complaint under the new rules if the cable operator and Madison Square Garden, spun off from Cablevision, wouldn’t let the telco carry in HD two New York-area regional sports networks (RSNs) in Connecticut. Verizon filed a similar amended complaint in June, and commission officials predicted renewed attention by staffers over the withholding from rivals of channels affiliated with cable operators (CD June 29 p6).

The House passed legislation to expand telework opportunities for federal workers after Republicans successfully tweaked it to their liking in a last-minute effort on the House floor Wednesday. The House voted 290-131 to approve an amended bill after voting 304-118 on a measure by Oversight Committee Ranking Member Darrell Issa, R-Calif., that included changes to the bill that Issa said would ensure the legislation is “cost neutral,” as well as ensure federal employee integrity while telecommuting. The bill moves to the Senate.