The FCC Technological Advisory Council plans to make cybersecurity a key focus for 2014, helping the agency sort through the role it can play, officials said Monday during the initial TAC meeting of the year. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler formerly chaired TAC.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler likely has the votes to get approved the draft order to tighten restrictions on sharing arrangements and limit joint negotiation of retransmission consent agreements, said several communications attorneys and industry observers in interviews Friday. It’s unlikely that Wheeler would have rolled out the planned regulation on Thursday (CD March 6 p7), several days before the required “white copy” date, without believing he had the Democratic commissioners’ votes needed to pass the rules, the industry observers said. Republican commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Ajit Pai have both indicated that they oppose rule changes to make sharing arrangements attributable, and industry officials said they expect no votes.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is expected to tee up an order on the TV incentive auction for the commission’s May 15 meeting, agency and industry officials told us, as what is expected to be a busy couple of months at the FCC on wireless issues seems to be developing.

Industry believes use of the Cybersecurity Framework will remain voluntary for the foreseeable future, but industry lawyers and stakeholders told us there’s a strong likelihood the framework will become a de facto standard of care that could become an issue in future litigation. A standard of care is defined as the amount of attention a reasonable individual or entity would exercise in a given situation -- in this case, it would be the level of cybersecurity risk mitigation an entity should reasonably exercise. Stakeholders debated that scenario during the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) yearlong development of the framework as part of President Barack Obama’s cybersecurity executive order (CD July 19 p8; Sept 11 p11). A de facto standard may have benefits along with widely perceived negative impacts, industry lawyers told us.

Public TV stations are weighing several options concerning the upcoming broadcast incentive auction, we found after asking all noncommercial educational (NCE) broadcasters in the top 30 designated market areas about their plans. Most don’t wish to relinquish their spectrum, while others haven’t ruled out any options and are still monitoring developments at the FCC, they said. For some stations, channel sharing isn’t feasible, but interest may be piqued if the channel-sharing trial between Los Angeles TV stations KLCS, a public-TV station, and KJLA is successful. The test is backed by CTIA.

An order to make TV-station joint sales agreements (JSAs) attributable for calculating ownership caps and to prohibit joint negotiation in retransmission consent agreements will go on circulation Monday, the FCC said. Also on circulation then will be an FNPRM seeking comment on shared services agreements (SSAs) and FCC ownership policies that kicks off the 2014 quadrennial review of media ownership, the commission also said Thursday. The FNPRM proposes retaining the current dual-network rule and the local radio rule, tentatively concludes that cross-ownership rules for newspapers and TV stations should remain, and asks whether to eliminate rules against newspaper/radio and the radio/TV combinations rule “in favor of reliance on the local radio and local television rules,” a senior commission official told reporters Thursday. Broadcasters criticized the draft order, while pay-TV interests seeking changes to retrans rules cheered it.

Look for the FTC to expand its data deidentification and mobile tracking technology research, said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez during a Q&A at an International Association of Privacy Professionals conference Thursday. Ramirez didn’t reveal specific data deidentification research efforts but said the commission wants “to take advantage of” recently appointed Chief Technologist Latanya Sweeney, and that those interested should “stay tuned.” Ramirez also revealed the commission would be following up its in-store mobile tracking workshop with a report. “We do plan to issue a report, so that will be forthcoming,” she said. As for the FTC’s long-anticipated data-broker study -- in the works since late 2012 -- Ramirez said she hopes it “will be coming out soon."

Most commenters agree the FCC should modify its wireless tower siting rules to help speed the deployment of distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cells, PCIA said in reply comments at the FCC. CTIA agreed, telling the FCC the record is “overwhelming” in favor of streamlined rules. The FCC launched a rulemaking in September (CD Sept 27 p10) on speeding siting, especially for DAS and small cells. Several local governments said the FCC should beware of some of the changes sought by the wireless industry.

Dozens of rural telcos submitted “expressions of interest” to the FCC in filings this week, indicating they would love to accept some of the money the agency is prepared to dole out for rural broadband experiments. The agency voted 5-0 earlier this year to approve IP technology transition trials, including rural broadband experiments (CD Jan 31 p1). Interest in participating in these projects has so far dwarfed interest in participating in service-based experiments. That effort has seen only a few applicants.

Amid debates in states nationwide over deregulating the telecom industry, competing bills in Minnesota would take two very different tacks. One, proposed by the Minnesota Telecom Alliance (MTA), would limit the state’s regulatory authority for residential customers to those with a single traditional phone line, a move the state’s AARP said at a state legislative hearing Wednesday would “eliminate any meaningful oversight of the telecommunications industry in Minnesota.” Another bill, proposed by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, would add more regulations on rural call completion. NARUC and other organizations said they did not know of any states that have passed similar measures. Some observers said other legislation addressing rural call completion may follow.