Verizon, CompTel and XO Communications will intervene in Qwest’s appeal of an FCC decision denying the company a forbearance in Phoenix, court records show. The 10th U.S. Court of Appeals has extended the deadline to allow other intervenors to file briefs in the case, and lawyers for all three filed notices of intention to intervene. The new deadline is Sept. 20.

Green Flag Wireless said the FCC should view as predictable comments from wireless carriers that don’t want the commission to toughen its rules showings need for wireless license renewals. The opposition of incumbent carriers was expected, Green Flag said in reply comments. Meanwhile, wireless carriers and groups that represent them said in their replies that the record shows the FCC does not need to require more-detailed renewal showings (CD Aug 10 p3).

ST. GEORGES, Del. -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is circulating a cybersecurity proposal among Senate committees of jurisdiction that combines bills proposed by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., Thursday. But the process is secretive and shutting out private industry, says a leading lobbyist, making him “very nervous."

State regulatory conditions for municipal broadband haven’t changed the past few years, though the National Broadband Plan and other efforts have prompted state governments to be more active regarding broadband, experts said in interviews. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., plans to reintroduce community broadband legislation when he gains Republican co-sponsorship in the Commerce Committee, a spokeswoman said.

Dish Network resumed talks with the FCC on revising former defaulter rules in preparation for coming spectrum auctions, a possible indicator the direct broadcast satellite provider is gearing up for spectrum bids. Dish asked the Wireless Bureau to refine bidding rules that require bidders with poor federal financial track records to put up significantly more money than those with unblemished record, said an ex parte filing. The commission is planning to auction off AWS-3 and 700 MHz spectrum in 2011 per the National Broadband Plan, though no official auction has been put in place and possible Congressional action allocating the D-block for public safety agencies (CD Aug 9 p3) could make an auction unnecessary.

The FCC is expected to take up an order on wireless 911 location accuracy at the Sept. 23 meeting, as well as notice of inquiry on 911 VoIP issues, agency and industry officials said Wednesday. A few other orders also may get a vote, including finalizing rules for the TV white spaces and an E-rate item. Odds appear slim at this point the commission will attempt to vote at next month’s meeting on a declaratory order reclassifying broadband transmission as a Title II service.

Direct broadcast satellite providers and broadcasters disagree about the antenna standard that the FCC should use in defining unserved households eligible to receive distant signals, they said in comments to the commission. The agency is following through on parts of the Satellite TV Localism and Extension Act (STELA), and both sides replied Tuesday to a rulemaking notice on the standard (CD July 29 p11) in docket 10-152. The proposed rule would continue to use the outdoor antenna standard, which classifies consumers who can’t receive broadcast signals by outdoor antenna as unserved and so eligible to get distant signals by DBS. STELA doesn’t specify the type of antenna to be used in the predictive model and on-site testing that determine distant signal eligibility. Under the law, the commission must act by Nov. 23 to implement the act.

The U.S. must preserve network neutrality, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said at a broadband summit Tuesday at the University of Minnesota. Genachowski said he still feels “very strongly” about enforcing open Internet principles. He also urged Congress to speedily fund a nationwide, interoperable wireless broadband network for public safety.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Civil liberties groups weren’t shy about airing publicly their dissatisfaction with the proposals of a sprawling coalition they've joined to seek a revamp of the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). Representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), members of the Digital Due Process Coalition, said they support its efforts but want to go considerably further in imposing probable cause and warrant requirements for government agents to get information about e-mail, cellphone calls and other newer forms of communications.

The Google-Verizon deal takes wireless off the table in the FCC effort to reclassify broadband to be regulated under Title II of the Telecom Act because wireless is different, Verizon Executive Vice President Tom Tauke explained in remarks at the Technology Policy Institute’s Aspen Forum. The exclusion of wireless, at least for now, was one of the most controversial aspects of the agreement when it was unveiled two weeks ago (CD Aug 10 p1).