Tribune Broadcasting requested a license for a Ku-band transportable transmit-only earth station. The facilities will be uesd to provide news and event coverage “via digital video and audio carriers to WTIC-TV, Hartford, Conn., and WCCT-TV, Waterbury, Conn.,” it said in an application to the FCC International Bureau (http://bit.ly/1iTnpiv). WXMI Grand Rapids, Mich., also applied for a Ku-band transmit-only earth station (http://bit.ly/1e3njCM).

Sorenson began rolling out a change in its Telecommunications Relay Services that it says will prevent unregistered softphones from dialing 911, the company told the FCC Monday (http://bit.ly/1jJ2g8C). A softphone is computer software that allows VoIP calls. The ability to dial 911 will be activated as soon as the user registers the softphone, Sorenson said.

House Communications Subcommittee Republicans want to bring up five central issues with the five FCC commissioners this week, based on the majority committee staff memo for the hearing: Commercial spectrum auctions, government spectrum, universal service, FCC reform and the IP transition. The panel’s oversight hearing is at 10 a.m. Thursday in 2123 Rayburn. “Several fundamental implementation questions about the broadcast incentive auction remain unanswered, including broadcast station valuation and border coordination,” the memo said (http://1.usa.gov/1hKIydb). “It remains unclear how the FCC intends to craft auction rules that comport with the changes made to the Communications Act by the Spectrum Act.” The memo criticized the FCC quantile regression analysis, “aggravated by the widely-recognized need for comprehensive corrective action and the long delay in Commission action on waivers sought by many of these companies for relief in the interim,” and backed more process updates. The memo mentioned the spectrum and FCC process legislation House Commerce will consider in markup and vote on this week (CD Dec 10 p3).

Cloud-based TV service nimbleTV began offering its service in the New York City metropolitan region Tuesday, the company said in a news release. The service allows users with addresses in that area to watch TV on any device with an authenticated cable subscription, the release said. Customers can watch “their favorite local cable programming -- including local news, sports and major networks -- anywhere, anytime and on any device,” it said. The base service, which requires an existing cable subscription, costs $3.99 a month. Users can buy a subscription TV package that will allow them to stream local, cable and premium cable channels starting at $29.98 per month. Both kinds of services include DVR capability. CEO Anand Subramanian said: “Our approach simply improves existing pay TV -- it does not displace it."

The Utilities Telecom Council asked the FCC to “streamline” the process by which utilities or other critical infrastructure entities can access the Connect America Fund (CAF) as a certified eligible telecom carrier (ETC), and make available funds that go unused by price-cap carriers for serving unserved and underserved areas (http://bit.ly/1dmivDM). “By removing these barriers, the Commission would promote broadband deployment” by electric utilities, said UTC in a Monday letter. “UTC suggests that the Commission permit entities whose applications for ETC designation are still pending (and who are otherwise eligible) to be eligible to obtain access to CAF through its Phase I or Phase II funding mechanisms. That way, an entity that succeeds in applying for CAF to serve a certain unserved study area can become an ETC after it has successfully obtained access to CAF funds.” That would reduce the uncertainty and delay that often discourages utilities from participating in CAF, the group said. “This simple change can release market forces that are unnecessarily restrained under legacy requirements from the Universal Service Fund that have been carried over and made applicable to the CAF."

Dish Network urged the FCC to prohibit coordinated negotiations among non-commonly owned stations, adopt a carriage dispute resolution mechanism and permit interim carriage to avoid blackouts during impasses. The commission has “broad statutory authority to implement such reforms to protect consumers and better reflect market conditions,” it said in an ex parte filing in dockets 13-225, 13-185 and 10-71 (http://bit.ly/1bSaLMU). Dish also supported auctions of 600 MHz spectrum and AWS-3 spectrum, it said. Consumers benefit from a competitive wireless landscape, and in order to preserve those benefits, “the commission must ensure that the two dominant wireless incumbents are not permitted to lock competitive carriers out of acquiring low-band spectrum,” it said.

More than 1.7 billion devices that can access over-the-top (OTT) content such as Netflix or Hulu will ship by the end of 2013, a 20 percent increase over 2012, said IHS in a press release Monday (http://bit.ly/1bSbjCz). The 1.7 billion OTT devices is “enough OTT systems to accommodate almost one out of every four people on the planet,” said IHS. But the market is projected to grow another 20 percent next year, reaching 2.67 billion by 2017, it said. Most OTT devices are either PCs or smartphones, accounting together for 836 million of 2012’s 1.43 billion OTT boxes, IHS said. Around 480 million non-PC, non-smartphone devices will ship in 2013, a 30 percent increase over 2012, the release said. Handheld game platforms are the only OTT device not growing in sales, IHS said. “Like other single-tasking systems, the space is under attack from more broadly based general-purpose equipment, primarily smartphones and tablets,” said IHS. Digital media adapters are suffering from the same affliction, it said, and make up less than 1 percent of the total OTT market in 2013. However, as the market grows, OTT devices might face technical challenges, IHS said. New media coding standards have stiffer computational requirements than previous ones, and strain mobile devices’ battery power. “Such challenges present rich opportunities for semiconductor suppliers as new standards and technologies continue to expand the market,” it said.

The Utility Reform Network (TURN) filed a complaint with the California Public Utilities Commission Friday asking the PUC to put a stop to AT&T’s “unreasonable” rates (http://bit.ly/1bsKeTJ). Since Jan. 1, 2011, AT&T’s basic service rates have been deregulated, and AT&T’s flat and measured service rates have increased 40 percent and 73 percent, said the TURN complaint. Since the PUC granted major increases to the price caps of ILEC basic service rates on Jan. 1, 2009, AT&T’s flat and measured service rates have increased 115 percent and 222 percent, it said. “Competitive forces are not imposing sufficient constraints to ensure that AT&T’s basic service rates meet the requirement of Public Utilities Code Section 451 that ‘all charges demanded or received’ by a public utility such as AT&T ’shall be just and reasonable,'” said the complaint. TURN’s complaint was signed by 35 California customers. The complaint calls for the PUC to order a reduction in AT&T’s rates to make them comparable to other carriers, at $20 for flat service and $14 for measured service. AT&T did not comment.

The Michigan Public Service Commission reversed an arbitration panel determination, in an order Friday, and it will now require AT&T to initiate IP interconnection with Sprint (http://bit.ly/1aP7Y0K). AT&T Michigan argued in the arbitration that it was unable to provide Sprint with IP interconnection because the applicable equipment was owned by a “separate, but affiliated, out-of-state” company, said the order. Without intervention from the PSC, Sprint in the order said “it will be forced to use inefficient and expensive TDM technology to the financial detriment of the company.” According to Section 251(c)(2) of the 1996 Telecom Act, AT&T Michigan is required to provide IP-to-IP interconnection in the same way that it requires TDM interconnection, said Sprint. AT&T said this interconnection requirement does not extend to IP interconnection, and this legal question is “currently pending” before the FCC in a rulemaking proceeding. The PSC acknowledged the FCC’s rulemaking, but it said the FCC did not ask state commissions to “refrain from deciding on the issue.” State commissions are not required to delay their decisions on IP interconnection pursuant to the 2nd Circuit Court’s decision in Southern New England Telephone Company v Comcast Phone of Connecticut, Inc., decided earlier this year, said the PSC order. The PSC said AT&T Michigan failed to provide a reasonable argument on why Sprint’s proposed IP interconnection is not technically feasible, said the order. AT&T Michigan alleged that the softswitch used to provide IP service to its customers was owned by its out-of-state affiliate SBCIS, and is not part of the AT&T Michigan’s network. The PSC said AT&T Michigan and SBCIS work together to operate a network for IP and TDM-based telephone exchange service, and AT&T Michigan is still required to provide Sprint with IP interconnection. In addition, AT&T Michigan can’t use the location of IP softswitch as a reason to deny Sprint access to IP interconnection, said the order. “Based on the Commission’s view of the facts in this case, it appears AT&T Michigan is feigning inability to provide IP interconnection in order to avoid its Section 251(c) obligations,” said the order. The Michigan PSC should be congratulated for promoting “modern and efficient” IP technology implementation, said Charles McKee, Sprint vice president-government affairs, in a statement. “By ruling that AT&T must allow carriers to interconnect using IP, the Commission has taken an important step in providing customers the benefits and efficiencies of IP technology,” said McKee. “Sprint is also pleased that the Michigan PSC ruled favorably on other pro-competitive provisions of Sprint’s proposed interconnection agreement that will allow Sprint to exchange traffic with AT&T more cost-effectively.” Comptel General Counsel Angie Kronenberg said she also applauded the Michigan PSC for siding with Sprint. “As the PSC found, there is no reason why states should wait for further action from the FCC,” she said. “It is critical that states use their authority granted by Congress to address interconnection when parties cannot agree.” AT&T Michigan did not comment.

A satellite jointly owned by China and Brazil was lost after it was launched Monday on a Chinese rocket. CBERS-3 was intended to help generate images in Brazil of agricultural zoning, natural disaster monitoring and other applications, said Brazil’s space agency in a news release (http://bit.ly/1d5t6T9). The launch vehicle, Long March 4B, malfunctioned, and the satellite wasn’t placed into orbit, it said. “Preliminary evaluations suggest that the CBERS-3 has returned to the planet.” The causes of the problem are being evaluated by Chinese engineers, the agency said.