The satellite and wireless industries remain divided over the feasibility of allocating a portion of the C band for mobile services and estimates of spectrum needed for the future, ahead of the November 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference. Both industries are continuing to work with the U.S. government and foreign governments to reach consensus with those governments on establishing proposals for solutions, professionals in both industries said.

The FCC Media Bureau suspended the pleading schedules for both the AT&T/DirecTV and Comcast/Time Warner Cable deals until it rules on a stream of objections filed by a group of programmers to prevent their contracts with providers from being viewed, said an order issued Wednesday (http://bit.ly/ZO1D80). The order also stops the 180-day shot clock for the AT&T deal. The Comcast shot clock had already been put on hold (see 1410070029). The stoppage is a response to a joint request (see 1410210042) from several commenters on the deal -- including Dish Network -- to extend the reply comment period for Comcast/TWC in part because the programmers -- which include Viacom, Disney, CBS and Scripps -- have filed objections to every request from any party to view confidential documents filed in both transactions. “We agree with these commenters that their current inability to review Highly Confidential Information … significantly hampers their ability to meaningfully comment and participate in these proceedings,” said the order.

The FCC “at least at this juncture," is not pursuing a spectrum band for the Internet of Things, said Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp Wednesday at the Winnik Forum at Hogan Lovells. But Knapp acknowledged that spectrum is a huge IoT issue. FCC “flexible use” rules for licensed and unlicensed spectrum “negates the need for a dedicated Internet of things allocation,” he said. “We don’t expect right now that there’s going to be an IoT band.”

The FTC, institutionally, has advantages over the FCC in its oversight of net neutrality, said FTC Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen Wednesday at the Winnik Forum at Hogan Lovells. Ohlhausen had earlier complained that the FTC could lose enforcement authority if ISPs are reclassified as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act (see 1409300081).

A draft NPRM that would seek comment on broadening the definition of what the FCC considers a multichannel video programming distributor to include linear over-the-top video providers (see 1410010086) is being shared among some offices on the FCC's eighth floor, and Media Bureau staff has been reaching out to OTT and cable companies to discuss it, said commission officials and industry officials in interviews. Remarks by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and a recent speech by General Counsel Jonathan Sallet (see 1410170039) indicated an interest in the item at the commission's highest levels. Officials at the FCC, in OTT video companies and in the cable industry told us it's not clear if the item is intended to bring online programming into the FCC's purview, provide regulatory certainty for OTT companies like Aereo or increase competition for large cable companies such as Comcast.

Quincy Broadcast Group’s WKOW Madison, Wisconsin, planned to go off the air in the wee hours of Wednesday morning to accommodate the second round of "real-world broadcast field testing" of "Futurecast," the technology developed by LG, its Zenith research and development labs and GatesAir. Futurecast is proposed as the physical layer for the next-gen Advanced Television Systems Committee 3.0 broadcast system.

The Campaign Legal Center’s follow-up to a complaint against WJLA-TV Washington claims WJLA was aware of the financial backer of political advertisements that were run on the station. NextGen Climate Action Committee was identified as the ad sponsor, but the CLC argued NextGen isn't the true sponsor. The FCC Media Bureau dismissed the complaint last month (see 1410060041). The latest complaint, filed Monday evening, attempts to stop WJLA from continuing to run the ads without identifying Tom Steyer as the funder, and it requests an expedited ruling ahead of the Nov. 4 elections, the complaint said. Broadcast attorneys questioned the merit of the new complaint, with one saying the FCC may have the opportunity to address issues that weren’t mentioned in the bureau’s letter to dismiss.

The net neutrality forum sponsored by FCC Commissioner Ajit Pail may have been outside the Beltway -- in College Station, Texas -- but the debate over basing regulations on Section 706 or Title II was much as it has been in Washington. Opponents of Title II argued common carriage regulations would stifle broadband deployment and be unnecessarily burdensome, while proponents said Title II is needed to protect innovative edge companies from having to Internet service providers to avoid getting stuck in a slow lane.

CTIA President Meredith Baker, who took over in June (see 1404240050), is making some of her first big moves as the head of the group, telling staff in an email that Executive Vice President Chris Guttman-McCabe is leaving. Also leaving is John Walls, vice president-public affairs, a former sports reporter who followed Baker’s predecessor Steve Largent to CTIA

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling on the right to be forgotten could create enormous implementation and legal problems for ISPs, said critics of the decision at panel Monday hosted by Georgetown University’s Communication, Culture & Technology (CCT) department (http://bit.ly/1r9At2y). Proponents of the ruling said requests to remove personal data shouldn’t necessarily be weighed differently than requests to remove financial or sensitive information.