The leaders of NTIA and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) told the House Communications Subcommittee Wednesday that the best way to sustain multistakeholder Internet governance is to allow the two entities proceed with transitioning oversight of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). NTIA, which currently oversees ICANN’s administration of IANA and domain name system functions, said last month it plans to transition its current oversight role to a global multistakeholder group once ICANN and others develop an acceptable governance plan. Several House Republicans and FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, also a Republican, have criticized the NTIA plans, with O'Rielly saying Tuesday that it “raises some serious concerns that must be addressed prior to moving forward” (CD April 2 p8).

Content neutrality rules barring content companies from charging cable providers and ISPs for access to content based on their number of Internet subscribers won’t be part of a new open Internet order, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told the independent cable operators at the American Cable Association’s Washington Summit Wednesday. ACA officials and Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., all raised the issue -- sometimes referred to as “cableization of the Internet” -- at the conference as a threat to consumers, but Wheeler said rules controlling that practice were not the first priority of new net neutrality regulations.

The TV incentive auction will have to bring in huge proceeds to be a success, and limiting bidding by AT&T and Verizon will work against big numbers, AT&T Vice President Joan Marsh said Wednesday on the company’s policy blog (http://bit.ly/OdH66y). The FCC is nearing completion of service rules for the auction, expected to get a vote at the May meeting along with spectrum aggregation rules (CD March 10 p1). Marsh said broadcaster reimbursement alone could have a $20 billion price tag. Add in $1.7 billion in relocation costs and revenue to pay for FirstNet and next-generation 911, and expectations for the auction rise, she said.

As the FCC collects arguments over easing the siting of wireless facilities, the industry has been successful in several states in achieving the gains it’s seeking from the commission. Missouri and Washington have eased local government oversight over siting this year. Georgia also approved a new siting law, but left out the gains wireless companies had sought in an unsuccessful bill last year.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, as expected, was set to circulate late Wednesday a further rulemaking notice on the future of the 3.5 GHz band. The rulemaking offers a much more detailed plan for the band, a testbed of sorts for spectrum sharing and small cells, and would create a new Part 96 to the FCC’s rules, a senior FCC official said Wednesday. The next step is launch of initial rules for the 3.5 GHz band.

Satellite broadband could be the solution for building out broadband and IP services to low-density rural areas, satellite providers and others said in interviews. There’s a perception among satellite providers and some others that the technology hasn’t been given the attention it deserves. Satellite tech has advanced tremendously in the past couple of years, proponents said, pointing to higher speeds, lower costs and a stamp of approval from the FCC’s most recent broadband speed measurement report. But satellite broadband wasn’t eligible for Connect America Fund Phase I money, and the FCC hasn’t made any decisions on the Phase II competitive process. The satellite industry wants to be a part of the discussion.

Lobbying on a European Commission telecom reform package ratcheted up a day before Thursday’s European Parliament vote. Although the “connected continent” measure (CD Dec 2 p8) addresses a range of issues such as mobile roaming charges and spectrum allocation, most of the attention has focused on its net neutrality provisions, which have attracted intense lobbying from major telcos, digital rights and consumer activists and EU Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes. Everyone seems to want an open Internet, but few agree on what that means, said consultant Innocenzo Genna, who represents non-incumbent telecom and Internet players. The fate of the package was unclear at deadline, but some observers predicted the more net neutrality-friendly provisions might pass.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is expected to circulate proposed rules on the future of the 3.5 GHz band for a vote at the commission’s April 23 meeting, said agency and industry officials Tuesday. The FCC had a busy agenda at Monday’s meeting (CD April 1 p1; p4; p8; p11) and is expected to hold a big meeting in May, with votes on rules for the TV incentive auction as well as spectrum aggregation rules, the officials said. The FCC is looking at use of the 3.5 GHz band by small cells and as a large-scale test site for spectrum sharing. The agency began an initial rulemaking in December 2012 (CD Dec 13/12 p6).

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler doesn’t intend to consider interconnection or peering in any net neutrality redo, an FCC spokesman confirmed Tuesday. To many industry and agency officials, this doesn’t come as a surprise. “It’s not really a change in the status quo,” one agency official told us. But it’s disappointing to net neutrality proponents who thought the discriminatory effects of interconnection fights might finally get the regulatory oversight the issue deserves.

Key Democrats on the Senate Communications Subcommittee indicated they may be open to a draft of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act that’s less than clean. The subcommittee held a hearing on STELA reauthorization Tuesday, with witnesses from DirecTV, Free Press, NAB, NCTA and TiVo and testifying.