House Communications Subcommittee leaders want to engage industry on net neutrality and adopt a consensus proposal as law, even as the FCC moves to make rules on its own. Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., wants to legislate based on industry consensus, he said at a subcommittee broadband adoption hearing and a conference of the Computer & Communications Industry Association. At the hearing, Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., said he’s “100 percent behind” Boucher in the belief that Congress should get involved. But some other legislators questioned the speediness of doing net neutrality on Capitol Hill.

LOS ANGELES -- FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Thursday he’s open to self-regulation on net neutrality -- with a commission “backstop” -- and to work with industry to ensure forbearance in the broadband reclassification he proposes can’t be undone. Wholesale unbundling and rate regulation in the six sections of Title II Genachowski seeks to impose on broadband transport are “off the table,” he said in a Q-and-A with NCTA President Kyle McSlarrow at the cable show. “We're going to rely on competitive markets,” Genachowski said.

The FCC approved petitions by 21 cities, counties and states seeking waivers to move forward with statewide and regional interoperable wireless broadband networks using 700 MHz spectrum already assigned to public safety. Chairman Julius Genachowski had sought a quick vote on the order so public safety agencies have a chance for NTIA broadband stimulus grants, sources said. The order is noteworthy marks the first time that the FCC has imposed a technology standard, requiring that the systems use LTE. The order wasn’t a surprise: Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett indicated in February that action on the waivers was coming.

LOS ANGELES -- Industry engagement, not rhetoric, was sought by FCC aides in proceedings including those on new video devices and Chairman Julius Genachowski’s plan to reclassify broadband transport under parts of Title II. They said on an NCTA convention panel Wednesday that sustained industry dialogue would improve the outcome of the proceedings. Back in Washington on Tuesday, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn had sought to dispel what she called myths of reclassification (CD May 12 p3) OR (WID May 12 p2).

LOS ANGELES -- FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said the fastest way to protect consumer privacy on the Internet is through government regulation, but it’s not the preferred method. Speaking at the NCTA show Wednesday, he stressed the agency doesn’t want to stifle innovation or shut down the online marketplace. “But we do want to protect consumer choice and control,” he said. “And the message we have to the business community is: As long as you work toward the goal of meaningful self-regulation, then we will support it. But Congress will step in if the business community falls off the track and does not find a way to protect consumers’ privacy.”

Accuracy is critical as the FCC upgrades its spectrum dashboard, now in Beta release, but set to be updated later this year, speakers said at an FCC forum Wednesday. The dashboard came in for both praise and criticism.

"Small businesses have much at stake” in the way network neutrality plays out at the FCC, said Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., of the House Small Business Committee. But at a hearing Wednesday, small-business executives touched only lightly on the matter. Most instead emphasized the need for continued government support for broadband deployment and adoption efforts.

LOS ANGELES -- The shift to viewing video on a variety of devices, with content now often distributed online, offers good and bad news for the entertainment industry, said CEOs from a Hollywood studio, cable and broadcasting. Content producers in those industries must be careful to still get paid for their programming to avoid the mistakes made by the music industry, panelists at the NCTA show said Wednesday. Those industries may need to make changes to continue to profit as content moves to more and more devices, they said.

Consolidation among TV stations is needed soon, Nexstar Broadcasting Group Chairman and CEO Perry Sook told investors Wednesday. In media industries like radio and cable, major consolidation has already occurred, he said. And in broadcast TV, the national networks and production studios are highly concentrated, Sook said. “Consolidation has largely happened in those industries and it hasn’t happened here,” he said. “We think it does need to happen."

T-Mobile USA reported a net subscriber loss of 77,000 in Q1, a sharp reversal of an increase of 415,000 a year earlier. But parent Deutsche Telekom rebounded to a net profit of $972.8 million from a $1.4 billion net loss from a year earlier, when its earnings were weighed down by goodwill charges on its U.K. business.