Dish Network’s play for spectrum comes down to having options, said Dish Chairman Charles Ergen. Dish is expected to end up with about a $5 billion investment in spectrum, he said Friday on Dish’s Q4 earnings call. He also said he’s worried about the media environment if a proposed merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable is approved.

Patent assertion entity Intellectual Ventures (IV) filed with the Federal Elections Commission last week to organize its own political action committee, Intellectual Ventures PAC, according to documents the FEC released Friday (http://1.usa.gov/Nj8CiR). IV has not commented on what Intellectual Ventures PAC’s political agenda will be, but the company has been highly critical of many provisions in legislation under consideration on Capitol Hill that would curb abusive patent litigation. The House passed the Innovation Act (HR-3309) in December, and the Senate is considering the Patent Transparency and Improvements Act (S-1720) and several other bills. Advocates of that legislation told us it isn’t surprising that IV has formed its own PAC, citing IV’s history of lobbying on patent legislation.

In what is seen by some as a key early indicator for the likely price of spectrum in the FCC TV incentive auction, the Canadian 700 MHz auction recently closed. It brought in bids of $1.99 MHz/POP, higher than the aggregate prices in the U.S. 700 MHz auction. Auction expert Peter Cramton of the University of Maryland said in an interview that U.S. auction watchers should view those prices as a very good sign for the upcoming 600 MHz sale.

The FCC’s potential foray into preemption of state laws blocking municipal broadband has industry watchers split. Some say there’s no question the agency has the authority to step in; others point to a Supreme Court case they say ties the agency’s hands. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said Wednesday the agency would explore its authority to remove the state restrictions (CD Feb 20 p1). Wheeler’s announcement was part of the FCC’s plan to revamp its net neutrality rules in the wake of the Verizon v. FCC decision (CD Jan 16 p1).

The FCC offered advice to industry on two highly technical parts of the incentive TV auction Friday, with workshops on the methodology for “feasibility checks” for whether channels can move during the repacking part of the auction and on interservice interference prediction. The feasibility checking methodologies for the FCC’s incentive TV auction are “built on the substantial work we have done on the repacking process, including the development of the TVStudy software and development and release of repacking data,” said Gary Epstein, head of the FCC’s Incentive Auction Task Force, who opened the workshops. “These are technical but crucial parts of the incentive auction,” he said. “We're exploring this important concept as a way of making the reverse auction work efficiently while meeting key statutory requirements of the spectrum act.”

A slight slow-down in bidding may indicate the H-block auction may soon come to a close, some analysts said. Provisionally winning bids totaled $1.535 billion as of Friday, which is gaining ground toward Dish Network’s bid commitment of $1.564 billion.

European regulators have paved the way for commercial development of short range devices (SRDs). In a report on future spectrum demand for SRDs in the UHF bands, and a recommendation on the use of SRD, both made public Feb. 14, the Conference of European Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) set out a common spectrum allocation approach and regulatory parameters for the 870-875.6 MHz and 915-921 MHz bands. CEPT’s actions got praise from U.S.-based Silver Spring Networks, which said more standardized cross-border spectrum treatment will ensure buildout of large machine-to-machine (M2M) networks across Europe. Meanwhile, consultants for the company urged the U.K. Office of Communications (Ofcom) to make the two bands available for SRDs as quickly as possible.

Comcast not only will need be seeking FCC and Justice Department approval for plans to buy Time Warner Cable for about $45 billion (CD Feb 14 p1), but the deal also will have to wind its way through amending thousands of local cable franchise agreements around the country, said municipal lawyers in interviews last week. While there may be local dustups and a lawsuit or two, the process is unlikely to pose serious roadblocks or delays for the deal, the attorneys said. Even as Seattle Mayor Ed Murray blasted the prospect of consolidation in a statement (http://bit.ly/1mf4pJG ) “as bad for consumers, bad for the future of the internet, and bad for democracy,” he also acknowledged “the City does not have the power to prevent” it. It’s “not the first major transfer. The parties are going to get through it,” said Jim Baller of Baller Herbst, a Washington attorney who represents municipalities. “No transfer of significance has been derailed by the process."

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler may have a slightly easier time thanks to the Justice Department in getting the agency’s two other Democrats to vote for a forthcoming order (CD Feb 12 p1) cracking down on TV station resource-sharing deals, said agency and industry officials in interviews Friday. Earlier that day, in a rare instance of the department’s substantively participating in FCC proceedings, Justice asked the FCC to attribute -- under ownership quota rules -- stations with which a broadcaster shares certain functions, such as in joint sales agreements (JSAs) and similar deals (CD Bulletin Feb 21).

Comcast’s proposed $45.2 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable potentially “creates a significant change in the landscape” of cable and satellite services, said DirecTV CEO Michael White on the DBS company’s Q4 results conference call Thursday. If approved, the deal would give Comcast control of more than 60 percent of the U.S. broadband network and grant it more power to negotiate content costs, White said. Comcast, in buying Time Warner Cable, potentially will gain added leverage with program suppliers, White said. But Comcast also will have control of programming through NBCUniversal, he said. “It is not clear” how Comcast will navigate between its cable systems and content operations, he said. Comcast agreed to pay about $45 billion for Time Warner Cable last week (CD Feb 14 p1).