The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected as premature Verizon and MetroPCS’s separate challenges of December’s FCC net neutrality rules, which were made before the order was published in the Federal Register. The decision was a win for the agency, which asked that the challenge be rejected, though future appeals remain likely. Verizon said in January that it would file an additional challenge after the order is published.

A wireless booster rulemaking notice is scheduled for a vote at Thursday’s FCC meeting, after concerns raised by Verizon Wireless and public safety were addressed in recent days. The order was placed on the sunshine agenda circulated by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, cutting off further lobbying at the FCC. The FCC is also slated to vote on a data roaming order as well as high-profile orders on pole attachments and the video relay service program, among other items.

Giving ILECs a break on pole attachment rates could help save $100 million yearly in broadband subsidies, USTelecom wrote FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. “While quantifying the benefits to the Connect America Fund requires some assumptions, we estimate that approximately one-third to one-half of the current unreasonable electric utility pole attachments are in rural areas,” President Walter McCormick said in the letter, released late Thursday. This suggests “that a strongly and clearly articulated reduction of ILEC attachment rates to the cable benchmark” could reduce the burden on the Connect America Fund “by more than $100 million each year,” he said.

Makers of set-top boxes that stream online video to TVs are taking a close look at adding ATSC receivers to their devices and may unveil new hybrid ATSC-online video products soon, industry executives said. Some devices could be announced as soon as the NAB show April 9-14 in Las Vegas, said Doug Wills, vice president at Minerva networks, an IPTV middleware company. Adding over-the-air TV reception capabilities to online video devices presents new challenges, such as reception problems and software integration hurdles, executives said.

Pending South Carolina legislation would impose barriers to community broadband initiatives in the state, including initiatives that have received federal economic stimulus grants and loans, opponents of the bill said. H-3508 would ensure a level playing field for all broadband providers, regardless of whether they're private or government-owned, said AT&T, a major proponent of the bill.

The FCC should determine if the wireless market will still function in the wake of AT&T buying T-Mobile, said House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore. Speaking at the Newseum at an event hosted by Politico and the Telecommunications Industry Association, Walden urged the agency to conduct a market-power analysis in its review of the deal. He warned the commission not to abuse its review authority by getting the parties to agree to conditions.

The House Communications Subcommittee unanimously approved draft legislation to speed unused broadband funds back to the U.S. Treasury, in a voice vote Friday morning. The combined hearing and markup lasted only about 45 minutes. Democrats questioned the need for the bill by House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., but they didn’t oppose it. NTIA and RUS heads said the bill’s goals are consistent with existing policies at the agencies.

The Digital Media Project wants Internet content to be as interoperable as TV services, DMP founder Leonardo Chiariglione said in an interview. Unlike the largely universal TV services made possible by standards such as MPEG and MPEG-2, online offerings are mostly incompatible, even though the Internet runs on a single infrastructure standard, because online offerings are proprietary, he said. The Open Connected TV (OCTV) project aims to remedy that by creating a core system that lets users access online content as openly as they do via TV, while ensuring content owners get paid, he said.

Capitol Hill is taking notice of GPS interference issues potentially raised by the LightSquared network. House Communications Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., told us Friday that concerns raised by the GPS community “are serious and need to be addressed before any build-out of the proposed network by LightSquared.” At an FCC budget hearing last week in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government (CD March 31 p1), Ranking Member Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., and Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., and Kevin Yoder, R-Kan., also flagged potential interference to GPS. LightSquared is reviewing the interference potential through an FCC-required working group that includes wireless, GPS and federal interests. That group is supposed to present a final report to the agency by June 15.

ILECs will get a chance to pursue “just and reasonable” pole attachment rates through the Telecom Act’s Section 224 complain provisions under a draft order that commissioners will take up next week, agency officials said. Chairman Julius Genachowski’s staff is still revising the order and it may well change, but a draft circulated earlier this month (CD March 9 p5) would lower CLEC rates to that of cable companies and let ILECs pursue lower rates through the complaint process. Genachowski and his staff are thought to be worried about the public relations implications of the order, FCC officials said. Utility companies have accused the commission of bailing out ILECs in the draft order, and the accusations have given Genachowski and staff pause, agency officials said.