FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told the agency’s Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC) Monday that as a former businessman he was “horrified” by the state of FCC computer and other systems, based on what he has seen so far, including during a field trip to the FCC office in Gettysburg, Pa. Wheeler said the FCC is funded by user fees paid by industry and, ultimately, by consumers. “It all comes down to money and I'm trying,” he said. Wheeler also said the work such advisory boards do is critical. Wheeler, former chairman of the FCC’s Technological Advisory Council, noted that TAC’s work on the IP transition laid the groundwork for what is now “a major area of policy focus” at the commission. “I believe strongly in the work that you all are doing and the importance of it at the commission,” he said. CAC will have a big role to play in assessing the “series of trials” expected across the country as the FCC looks more closely at the “impact” of the IP transition, he said. Wheeler also said emphatically that the FCC will have a continuing role as deregulation moves forward. “There are some in the carrier community” who believe “the FCC should be out of the picture and it should be the FTC” that protects consumers, he said. “We disagree.” He said he’s very focused on making certain that students and the disabled benefit from broadband. “If we are not using networks to deliver 21st century abilities for our students, shame on us,” he said. New generation networks should solve long-standing problems with the Telecommunications Relay Service and Video Relay Service, which are important to the disabled, he said.

The FCC Media Bureau is seeking comment on the way “video clips” delivered via the Internet are closed captioned, the bureau said in a public notice Friday (http://bit.ly/1k9qSYh). “We ask whether, as a legal and/or policy matter, the Commission should require captioning of IP delivered video clips.” Though full video delivered over Internet Protocol is already required to be closed captioned, the commission held off on imposing the requirement on video clips (CD April 19 p11). But consumer groups representing the hearing impaired issued a report arguing that streaming news clips are a primary source of information on sudden calamities such as the Boston marathon bombing, and the lack of captions excludes the hearing impaired (CD May 17 p7). Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and Edward Markey, D-Mass., authors of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, sent a letter to the FCC earlier this month asking the commission to require captions on IP video clips (http://1.usa.gov/1ejarJ3). The PN asks about the costs, benefits and technical challenges of captioning IP video clips. It also asks for information about the differences between captioning live or near-live clips -- such as news segments -- and prerecorded clips. The PN also raises the idea of requiring captions on only a subset of IP video clips. Comments are due Jan. 27, replies Feb. 26.

Space Systems/Loral signed an agreement with AsiaSat to build a high-power, multi-mission satellite. The satellite, AsiaSat 9, will be used for TV broadcast, private networks and broadband services across the Asia Pacific, SSL said in a news release (http://bit.ly/Jt6Tpo). It will be located at 122 degrees east where it will replace AsiaSat 4, it said. AsiaSat 9 will be designed to operate in C, Ku and Ka bands, and it’s expected to launch in 2016, SSL said.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., named the invited witnesses for Wednesday’s scheduled hearing on data brokers (http://1.usa.gov/1bIkFOs). Rockefeller announced the hearing last week. The FTC is to release its own study on data brokers in early 2014 (CD Nov 18 p21), and the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Jessica Rich will represent the agency Wednesday. Don Robert, CEO of Experian -- a company that has been part of Rockefeller’s ongoing investigation into data broker business practices (CD Oct 11/12 p12) -- will also testify. Direct Marketing Association Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Jerry Cerasale is to testify on behalf of industry. World Privacy Forum Executive Director Pam Dixon will represent WPF’s privacy interests. And Annenberg School for Communication Associate Dean for Graduate Studies Joseph Turow will testify.

The urban rates survey must be completed and returned by Jan. 17, the FCC Wireline Bureau said in a public notice Monday (http://bit.ly/1bUKsUS). The bureau plans to collect the rates offered by providers of fixed services identified using the most recent Form 477, with separate samples for fixed voice and fixed broadband services, it said. Providers required to complete the survey can expect to receive an email this week with an online reporting form, the notice said.

Globalstar again said adopting the rules proposed in the NPRM on allowing it to provide a terrestrial low-power broadband service would “quickly add 22 MHz to the nation’s wireless broadband spectrum inventory,” in an ex parte filing in dockets 13-213 and RM-11685 (http://bit.ly/1cMSuzh). It also would “ease the congestion that is diminishing the quality of Wi-Fi service at high-traffic 802.11 hotspots and other locations,” it said. Globalstar continued to urge the FCC to maintain its prohibition on outdoor operations in the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure band, it said. It repeated that reassignment of Globalstar’s spectrum to Iridium “would have a disastrous effect on Globalstar’s global MSS operations and cause significant harm to public safety and the customers who rely on Globalstar’s services,” it said. The proceeding on Iridium’s petition, which seeks reallocation of Big low-earth orbit spectrum from Globalstar is still pending (CD Nov 5 p5).

Correction: What the Pennsylvania Wireless Broadband Collocation Act of 2012 streamlines is the deployment of new cell sites, said Christopher Nurse, AT&T regional vice president-external affairs (CD Dec 13 p17).

The FTC filed a complaint seeking permanent injunction against Lin Miao and Andrew Bachman, and companies they own, for allegedly placing charges on wireless subscriber bills in violation of federal law. “Defendants have been engaging in a widespread scheme to place unauthorized third-party charges on consumers’ mobile phone bills, a harmful and illegal practice known as ‘cramming,'” the FTC said (http://1.usa.gov/1bLidqK). “Defendants have been operating a scam in which they have been billing consumers for text message-based subscription services even though the consumers did not authorize any purchase of the services.” Mobile subscribers targeted by the companies have been charged for celebrity gossip alerts, “fun facts,” horoscopes and “similar kinds of information,” the FTC said. Many subscribers paid their bills without noticing the charges, the agency said.

Ruckus Wireless is partnering with the city and county of San Francisco to deliver free public Wi-Fi for the city’s Market Street Corridor, said the company in a news release Monday (http://yhoo.it/1bUtENR). San Francisco’s Department of Technology and Ruckus worked in a public-private partnership to design, build and deploy the network, said Ruckus. The outdoor network will be available starting at the intersection of Market and Castro streets and continuing to the pedestrian corridor at the Embarcadero, it said. The city selected the company because it “overcomes” the physical and technical challenges of bringing wireless connectivity to outdoor environments with its high-capacity coverage requirements, Ruckus said. Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi technology is able to extend Wi-Fi signals over longer distances while adapting signals to changes to environmental conditions, said the company.

The Minority Media & Telecom Council again said it doesn’t object to some modest relaxation of the cross-ownership rule in large and medium markets, “so long as relaxation would not diminish minority ownership.” Comments were contained in an ex parte filing in dockets 09-182 and 07-294 (http://bit.ly/IQ3pwY). MMTC doesn’t believe the FCC “should further relax the television duopoly rule since that would deter growth of diverse ownership in broadcasting,” it said. “MMTC similarly feels that most shared service agreements are detrimental to minority ownership.” The filing pertained to a meeting with Maria Kirby, legal adviser to Chairman Tom Wheeler, it said.