Upping minimum download speeds the FCC deems fast enough to be called broadband, as a new notice of inquiry asks about doing in the next broadband deployment report, could have practical consequences for ISPs and commission measurement, said industry executives in interviews Tuesday. Chairman Tom Wheeler’s office on Friday circulated an NOI asking about increasing the minimum download transmission speed from 4 Mbps to 10 Mbps, said agency officials. The annual FCC report measuring the availability of broadband under Communications Act Section 706 appears headed in that direction, based on the justifications presented for such a speed-threshold increase in the draft inquiry, said an agency official. The draft NOI also asks about bigger increases, to as much as a more-than 600 percent increase from the current floor, said agency officials.

Upping minimum download speeds the FCC deems fast enough to be called broadband, as a new notice of inquiry asks about doing in the next broadband deployment report, could have practical consequences for ISPs and commission measurement, said industry executives in interviews Tuesday. Chairman Tom Wheeler’s office on Friday circulated an NOI asking about increasing the minimum download transmission speed from 4 Mbps to 10 Mbps, said agency officials. The annual FCC report measuring the availability of broadband under Communications Act Section 706 appears headed in that direction, based on the justifications presented for such a speed-threshold increase in the draft inquiry, said an agency official. The draft NOI also asks about bigger increases, to as much as a more-than 600 percent increase from the current floor, said agency officials.

Maine’s Democratic U.S. Senate challenger, Shenna Bellows, wants the FCC to reclassify broadband as a Title II telecom service to allow stronger net neutrality rules, one of many telecom and media issues that have crept into a 2014 midterm election cycle. Bellows has many priorities in telecom, from the importance of rural broadband access to phone surveillance concerns to opposition to Comcast’s proposed buy of Time Warner Cable.

Maine’s Democratic U.S. Senate challenger, Shenna Bellows, wants the FCC to reclassify broadband as a Title II telecom service to allow stronger net neutrality rules, one of many telecom and media issues that have crept into a 2014 midterm election cycle. Bellows has many priorities in telecom, from the importance of rural broadband access to phone surveillance concerns to opposition to Comcast’s proposed $66 billion buy of Time Warner Cable.

As EU data protection officials meet this week to analyze the online “right to be forgotten” granted by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) last month, there are concerns about the practicalities of the decision and whether it could lead to legal and financial uncertainties for companies, and free speech issues, said industry and public interest stakeholders in interviews. The U.K. Data Protection Act-mandated Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), however, cautioned against overstating the ruling’s implications. The ECJ ruled that search engines are responsible for personal data published by third parties that show up in search results (WID May 14 p5). Google, the defendant, responded to the decision by offering a Web form for requests for removal of information (WID June 2 p11).

AT&T’s proposed buy of DirecTV is unlikely to sway forces lobbying Capitol Hill on Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization this year, stakeholder companies and lobbyists told us. But the deal worth about $67 billion, including debt, would ultimately raise AT&T’s stakes in the video market and may promise longer-term lobbying ferocity on issues such as retransmission consent, they said. STELA expires at the end of the year. DirecTV has pushed for aggressive changes incorporated into reauthorization, closely aligning with Dish Network.

Using Title II of the Communications Act to ensure nondiscrimination on the Internet wouldn’t work, would lead to massive litigation and would be a “ticking time bomb” that would reverberate throughout the Internet ecosystem, said panelists at a Thursday FCBA event. It would also raise thorny USF issues as regulators try to determine which high-tech companies should pay into the fund if broadband becomes a telecom service and thus regulated under Title II, some said. But not everyone agreed that Title II classification would lead to the suggested parade of horribles.

Using Title II of the Communications Act to ensure nondiscrimination on the Internet wouldn’t work, would lead to massive litigation and would be a “ticking time bomb” that would reverberate throughout the Internet ecosystem, said panelists at a Thursday FCBA event. It would also raise thorny USF issues as regulators try to determine which high-tech companies should pay into the fund if broadband becomes a telecom service and thus regulated under Title II, some said. But not everyone agreed that Title II classification would lead to the suggested parade of horribles.

AT&T’s proposed buy of DirecTV is unlikely to sway forces lobbying Capitol Hill on Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization this year, stakeholder companies and lobbyists told us. But the deal worth about $67 billion including debt would ultimately raise AT&T’s stakes in the video market and may promise longer-term lobbying ferocity on issues such as retransmission consent, they said. STELA expires at the end of the year. DirecTV has pushed for aggressive changes incorporated into reauthorization, closely aligning with Dish.

Comcast faces questions in California about whether it waited to tell regulators it mistakenly published the listings of 74,000 people, including domestic violence victims hiding from attackers, until the passage of a state law the company now says shields it from penalties. The case had been seen as significant by local and national consumer advocates as a test of state regulatory authority during the IP transition. It took on added weight last week when critics of Comcast paying about $66 billion including debt for Time Warner Cable used it as ammunition against the deal.