The FCC defended its denial of Spectrum Five’s request for a review of the International Bureau’s decision to grant EchoStar special temporary authority to move its EchoStar 6 satellite (CD July 10 p20). Spectrum Five appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The FCC questioned whether Spectrum Five has standing to appeal the ruling and asserted that the decision made was well within agency authority. Spectrum Five is a privately held company formed in 2004 to develop and operate satellite systems, and does not yet have any satellites in operation. “This case lies in the heartland of agency discretion: the Commission’s judgment involving the technically complex allocation of orbital slots and the evaluation of the public interest in light of arrangements with foreign nations,” the FCC said (http://bit.ly/1g4o2RU). “Spectrum Five questions the agency’s policy judgment, but the Commission acted reasonably and explained its actions. Nothing more is required."

It’s time for new telecom policies to match the “new marketplace,” USTelecom President Walter McCormick said in a blog post Thursday (http://bit.ly/1ijg7DA). One hundred years after the Kingsbury Commitment that made AT&T a government-sanctioned monopoly in exchange for “agreeing to pervasive economic regulation,” it’s time for “early 20th century policies” to sunset, McCormick said. “Today the notion of a single voice provider is quaint, at best,” he said. “After 100 years, it’s time to leave the wireline-centric regulation of the monopoly voice era behind, focus on the broader social compact between network operators and their customers, and embrace our nation’s highly competitive, consumer driven, Internet-enabled future."

CTIA unveiled a website aimed at helping wireless subscribers make sense of the apps on their phones. CTIA, its members and the app developer community “created KnowMyApp.org so you know how the most popular apps use data,” CTIA said Thursday. “With Intertek Testing Services North America, we offer data usage estimates on some of the most popular apps in the Apple and Google stores.” Offering advice to help networks and devices run better, including using Wi-Fi connections when possible, CTIA said: “Adjust your apps’ settings to stop or minimize updates unless you're on a secure Wi-Fi hotspot. Minimize apps that aren’t in use so they're not running in the background. Uninstall any apps you don’t use.”

Four House members signed onto the Local Radio Freedom Act (LRFA) as co-sponsors, said an NAB news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/1eGw6uQ). They are Reps. Jim Gerlach, R-Pa., Robert Hurt, R-Va., Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, and Bill Pascrell, D-N.J. The LRFA was introduced in the House in February as H.Con. Res. 16 (http://1.usa.gov/1bstiK2) and in the Senate in March as S.Con. Res. 6 (http://1.usa.gov/19jGhxF), said the NAB. The bill says Congress “should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over-the-air, or on any business for such public performance of sound recordings,” it said. The LRFA has 188 co-sponsors in the House and 12 co-sponsors in the Senate, NAB said.

Speculation about a possible Sprint/T-Mobile US merger “will continue to persist,” said Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche Thursday in an email to investors. There would likely be “little resistance of such a move from both” AT&T and Verizon Wireless, Fritzsche said. “If the industry continues to see more consolidation, we remain confident that Sprint will play a key role."

The FCC is getting tough against companies violating rules designed to protect licensees from stray radio waves thrown off as a by-product by all digital devices, warned Mitchell Lazarus of Fletcher Heald on the law firm’s blog. All manufacturers need should beware, he said. “The biggest FCC fine in recent memory for an equipment violation -- an even $1 million -- came down against a company that marketed digital audio devices,” Lazarus wrote (http://bit.ly/19l2y1l). “Another company that distributes professional audio equipment settled with the FCC for $125,000. Still another company that makes professional gear settled for $72,000. The iconic guitar-maker Fender agreed to pay an impressive $265,000.” Another company, Rane, which supplies DJs and contractors, “agreed to hand over $61,500 because some of its gear (and the associated instruction manuals) did not contain certain fine print disclosures required by the FCC,” he said. Equipment makers should learn from these mistakes, Lazarus said. “Perhaps you think you are safe -- that the FCC will never find you. Think again. We don’t know how the Rane matter came to the FCC’s attention. But we do know that many enforcement actions originate with tips sent in by the offender’s competitors. If you have competitors, chances are they double as FCC agents who watch your company’s every move. The only good defense is to know the rules and comply with them."

The Telecommunications Regulatory Board of Puerto Rico asked to withdraw its petition to opt out of the National Lifeline Accountability Database, in a letter to the FCC posted Thursday (http://bit.ly/18N4MZh). The board had previously sought a participation waiver because it had already implemented a similar database. Due to cuts to the board’s budget, however, it won’t be able to make the Puerto Rico database compliant with the Lifeline rules, it said. “The Board commits to maintaining the current Puerto Rico database to retain its ability to eliminate and prevent duplicates in the Lifeline rolls until such time as Puerto Rico has been successfully migrated to the national system,” which will happen in the spring, it said.

Time Warner Cable and Viacom reached a multiyear renewal of their retransmission consent agreement. The agreement allows TWC and Bright House Networks “to continue delivery of the entire portfolio of Viacom networks to their subscribers and provides an enriched multiplatform experience to a vast library of popular on-demand content,” Time Warner Cable and Viacom said in a news release Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1jFxb8i). The agreement enables continued carriage of Viacom’s channels and content across linear TV in both SD and HD, video on-demand, authenticated websites and apps, it said. As part of an expansion of the arrangement, TWC will make the entertainment network Epix available to its subscribers under the terms of the agreement, it said. Time Warner Cable sometimes negotiates carriage deals on behalf of Bright House.

NCTA President Michael Powell, AT&T Senior Executive Vice President James Cicconi and Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen met with a senior aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler on Thursday to discuss the pending judicial review of the net neutrality order, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1gUR1dT). They said that “regardless of how the case comes out, the principles articulated by the Commission enjoy widespread support and broadband customers will continue to enjoy unfettered access to Internet content and applications."

The FCC Public Safety Bureau dealt with various requests for more time beyond a Nov. 20 deadline for licensees along the Mexican border seeking 800 MHz rebanding reimbursement from Sprint to file cost estimates with the company. The order released Tuesday was part of the ongoing 800 MHz rebanding process. FCC rules say “extensions of time shall not be routinely granted,” the bureau said (http://fcc.us/JoldPC): “The import of that rule is especially relevant to 800 MHz rebanding where delay in rebanding by one licensee can cause a ‘domino effect’ delay in the rebanding efforts of other licensees that have met the Commission’s 800 MHz band reconfiguration deadlines, with a consequent delay of the overall program.” The bureau approved some extensions for licensees that “have shown that grant of the request will not unreasonably delay rebanding” while holding other requests in abeyance. Among those getting an extension were Tucson Electric Power Co. and the Glendale Police Department in Arizona and San Diego Gas and Electric Co. Some large licensees need to justify an extension, including Maricopa County, Ariz., Southern California Edison Co. and San Diego County, Calif., the bureau said. All licensees that won approval have promised to complete rebanding cost estimates by March 10.