The outdated retransmission consent system is worsening problems at cable operators of all sizes, executives pushing for rule changes said. They still seek FCC modifications because retrans costs are going up, said executives at the American Cable Association and Time Warner Cable. Counterparts from News Corp.’s Fox TV Stations and the NAB said Tuesday that retrans costs represent a relatively small slice of cable programming costs and customer bills, contending changes aren’t necessary except perhaps to add rules governing pay-TV notice to subscribers of potential retrans blackouts. Lawyers on both sides of the issue did agree at an FCBA panel that the outlook for regulatory or legislative action anytime soon is hard to read.

CTIA and CEA both urged the FCC to exempt small businesses from new accessibility rules for advanced communications services (ACS) under the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), in response to an October further notice of proposed rulemaking. The rules are intended to make sure the 54 million Americans with disabilities are able to take full advantage of new communications services, such as video calling. The initial rules provided a short-term exemption for small businesses based on the definition of a small business by the Small Business Administration and teed up a series of questions for a follow up order (http://xrl.us/bmr32w).

A government review of GPS standards seems to be a likely result of the ongoing feud between LightSquared and the GPS industry, several executives from both sides of the argument said. It’s unclear, though, how the government would proceed, either seeking better protection of GPS services through interference standards or imposing GPS receiver standards. An NTIA report to the FCC advising the agency on how to proceed on LightSquared was released late Tuesday.

Compulsory copyrights show the need to keep an FCC rule preventing multichannel video programming distributors from using their blanket licenses to carry games in markets where they're blacked out on broadcast TV, professional baseball and football said. They cited Sections 111 and 119 of the Copyright Act, which let cable and DBS companies carry distant broadcast signals without getting the permission of leagues whose games are on TV. Like baseball and the NFL, the NAB also opposed a petition from a sports fan organization that has gotten backing from pay-TV companies and four public interest groups asking the commission to junk the 1975 rule. Five Democratic senators and nine professors said it’s time to kill the requirement.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Giving the FCC significant added “jurisdiction over a slice of the ecosystem” in electronic privacy policy would be “a recipe for trouble ahead,” a cable attorney said. “They want to have a role in the future” of federal policy, but “I don’t think they know what that role will be,” Paul Glist of the Davis Wright law firm said late Monday. “They have been negotiating with people on the Hill and in industry about what that role might be -- and probably with the FTC as well.”

Legislation giving the West Virginia Public Services Commission “authority and duty to regulate the practices, services and rates of broadband deployment projects,” is only in the discussion stage, sponsors told us. Senate Bill 491 (http://xrl.us/bmryeb) is intended to level the playing field within state broadband employment, said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. David Sypolt, a Republican.

The FCC sought comments on whether it should extend requirements that cable operators deliver must-carry DTV stations in analog and digital. The further notice of proposed rulemaking released Friday (http://xrl.us/bmrx7n) had been expected (CD Feb 8 p5). In it, the commission asked whether it should extend the requirement, which made sure that analog cable subscribers could still watch must-carry programming after the DTV switch, and allowed digital subscribers to watch the stations in digital. The notice tentatively concluded that FCC rules that exempt smaller cable systems from carrying must-carry stations’ HD signals should be extended.

AT&T’s proposed buy of T-Mobile “clearly” crossed a line and posed a risk to competition, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Monday at a Silicon Flatirons conference on “The Digital Broadband Migration.” Genachowski also indicated the FCC may reopen its receiver standards inquiry.

Cable operators still will be able to scramble all channels, as FCC staff are working toward an order allowing encrypting on the basic tier, agency and industry officials said. They said work continues to be slowed by concerns that some consumer electronics wouldn’t work at all with encrypted systems (CD Feb 9 p4). But top aides in the Media Bureau and office of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski are still believed by CE and cable officials to be inclined to circulate for a vote by commissioners an order allowing encrypting. Operators have said encrypting all broadcast and other expanded-basic channels would let them reduce carbon dioxide emissions when technicians drive to customer homes to turn on and off video, though CE companies still say those claims are overblown.

With Cincinnati Bell considering strategic alternatives for its recently acquired data center unit CyrusOne (CD Feb 13 p11), analysts said the market for transactional activity in the data center sector is strong, especially in smaller assets.