Terms for Agriculture Department rural broadband loans would be extended and rural public TV stations could get loans for gear to help with the digital transition, under farm bill amendments the Agriculture Committee adopted Thursday. The amendments propose minor changes to Title VI, on the rural broadband loan program. Loans could be amortized over 35 years if “adequately secured,” according to the measure by Rep. Zack Space, D-Ohio. “We have to make it easier for companies to provide broadband access or we're never going to connect Appalachia,” Space said. USTelecom praised Space’s amendment, which would boost rural broadband deployment, association president Walter McCormick said in a statement. The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association also hailed the amendment as a way to reduce “burdensome” paperwork required of loan applicants. The National Cable and Telecommunications Association praised the Agriculture Committee’s work on the rural broadband provisions, promising support as the bill proceeds. Space’s amendment passed on a voice vote. A second amendment, by Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., would ensure rural public TV stations could get Agriculture Department grants to replace analog broadcast gear with digital. It also passed without controversy on a voice vote.

The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously adopted an amended version of the broadband data bill (S-1492) in a pro forma Thursday markup. Members also approved the bipartisan number porting measure (S-1769) and an indecency bill opposed by broadcasters (S-1780) that would authorize the FCC to fine stations for “fleeting expletives” by airing a single word or image.

Cities, Bells and a cable group telegraphed positions on FCC video franchising rules that they may make in court in oral arguments when they submitted filings to 6th U.S. Appeals Court, Cincinnati. Groups representing municipalities said late Wednesday that section 621 of the Communications Act did not authorize a March commission order streamlining the franchise process. The section, on which the commission relied heavily in issuing the order (CD April 24 p2), leaves it to local franchising authorities (LFAs) to set conditions under which they permit cable operators, Bells and others to sell pay-TV, the municipalities said. USTelecom, AT&T and Verizon, in a joint filing June 29, disagreed.

Broadcasters should support the private equity investment model, under intense Hill scrutiny of late, Private Equity Council President Douglas Lowenstein said Monday at a Minority Media and Telecommunications Council conference. Congress is looking into raising the tax rate on private equity fund managers. House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., and Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey, D-Mass., recently queried FCC Chairman Martin on private equity holdings in media and telecom (CD July 16 p9). The debate over private equity’s tax rate likely will drag on through the fall, he said. “The environment is very fluid.”

The Senate Commerce Committee next week will mark up legislation designed to speed porting of phone numbers from local exchange carriers to wireless carriers and other rivals, Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) said Thursday. That move at the end of a number portability hearing came despite wireline, wireless carriers and cable industry claims that the FCC has the authority in needs to act.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) could speed delivery of rural broadband loans if it streamlined handling of borrowers with good repayment histories, OPASTCO said in comments filed Tuesday. Many “well-established rural carriers” with good RUS credit histories can become discouraged by the “unnecessarily burdensome” application process, OPASTCO said of procedures RUS proposed for screening loan applicants. Of course the Department of Agriculture’s RUS unit wants to ensure loans go to qualified borrowers to avoid defaults but glacial reviews drive carriers to other lenders, said OPASTCO. “All applicants need not be subject to identical application procedures,” it said. “Like any lender, the RUS can and should consider the repayment history of applicants, their affiliates or parent companies that have previously borrowed from other RUS programs,” OPASTCO said. Tuesday was the deadline for comments on varied RUS proposals to improve regulations for the Rural Broadband Program. The United States Telecom Association said RUS should revise the proposed broadband loan rules to make sure “critical financial resources reach areas that do not have high speed Internet service.” Saying “the current rules governing the broadband loan program do not efficiently target scarce government funds,” it urged two changes: Keep funding for “duplicative” broadband services to a minimum and remove unfair barriers keeping otherwise qualified service providers from getting financing. RUS made the rule changes to get more money to underserved areas, but “many of the proposed rule revisions are either inadequate or not authorized by the statute,” USTelecom said. “Unnecessary and burdensome rules and policies that discourage potential providers from participating in the broadband loan program deny rural Americans the benefits of broadband service.”

The FCC should revise an April order on telecom carrier use of customer proprietary network information (CPNI) and other customer information (CD April 3 p10), The United States Telecom Association (USTelecom) and CTIA said in separate petitions for reconsideration. USTelecom said the order seems to assume, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), that carriers are at fault when a pretexter obtains protected information. CTIA took exception to a finding in the order that carriers inadequately protect CPNI.

A handful of phone companies urged the FCC to ban exclusive video deals between apartment buildings and pay-TV providers, as cable operators claimed the commission should not fix a system that is not broken. Neither argument in FCC filings earlier this week was novel. Both were notable for linking broadband access, an FCC priority, to sales of video to multiple-dwelling units (MDUs) and housing developments. Bells were most vocal in connecting increased availability of high-speed Internet service and competition in the market for pay-TV. Comcast, Time Warner Cable and other cable commenters said the FCC lacks authority to put the kibosh on contracts between building owners or homeowners associations and video providers (CD July 5 p11, June 29 p5).

Robert Mayer, ex-N.Y. Department of Public Service Office of Telecommunications, joins USTelecom as vice president, industry and state affairs… Discovery promotes Eric Phillips to executive vice president, domestic distribution… Rachel Brand leaves Justice Department as assistant attorney general for legal policy, effective July 9, plans undisclosed…Armando Geday, ex-Conexant Systems, becomes chairman of new Metalink advisory board… Bright House Networks names Karen Broach, ex-Charter, president of its Birmingham, Ala., division… Tomoya Aoki, ex-GE and Capital International, becomes Jupiter Telecommunications chief financial officer.

The U.S. does not need net neutrality regulation, a Federal Trade Commission report released Wednesday said. Lawmakers should proceed with “caution, caution, caution” before crafting any broadband access laws, FTC Chairman Deborah Majoras told the Federal Communications Bar Association in Washington. “We do not know what the net effects of potential conduct by broadband providers will be on all consumers,” including access prices, quality and other services and choices of content and applications, the report said. In November the FTC will host a series of town hall meetings around the country “to explore technology and concerns about new risks” including net neutrality, online advertising and the Google-DoubleClick merger, she said.