There will be 191 million online video users and nearly 70 million smart-TV households in the U.S. by 2017, said market research firm Parks Associates in a press release Monday (http://bit.ly/1gTI6ol). Twenty-five percent of smart-TV app users recall seeing an in-app ad and 84 percent responded to that ad, said Parks, which called the rates the highest among “current connected CE platforms.” Despite the rise of over-the-top video, the TV is still the most popular way to watch video, said Parks Senior Analyst Heather Way in the release. Content owners who can “leverage the mass reach of the first screen” and the interactive components of smart TV will be able to get more out of their video assets, she said.

Nine Senate Judiciary Committee members want Inspector General of the Intelligence Community Charles McCullough to review all surveillance activities and any misuse of government authorities over the past three years. He should “draw on the excellent work already done by the Inspectors General of several agencies, including the Department of Justice,” they said in the letter (http://1.usa.gov/18lhStH) sent Monday, signed by Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., ranking member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and several other senators from both parties. “But only your office can bring to bear an IC-wide perspective that is critical to effective oversight of these programs.” The letter asks specifically about use and implementation of sections 215 of the Patriot Act and 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and “applicable minimization procedures and other relevant procedures and guidelines, including whether they are consistent across agencies and the extent to which they protect the privacy rights of U.S. persons.” They also seek information about how effective the surveillance is and request reports no later than Dec. 31, 2014. The Senate Judiciary Committee plans a hearing Wednesday, slated to include testimony from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander, but has not yet released a time and location. The Senate Intelligence Committee set a hearing on FISA legislation for 2 p.m. Thursday in 216 Hart and has not yet disclosed its witnesses. A spokesman for Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., declined comment Monday on the question of witnesses.

AT&T said it closed on its deal to buy former Alltel spectrum licenses and other assets from Atlantic Tele-Network, shortly after the FCC’s Wireless Bureau cleared the deal Friday (http://soc.att.com/16CjtaH). The $780 million purchase, announced in January, gives AT&T access to spectrum, mainly on the 850 MHz band, which covers 4.5 million potential customers in rural portions of Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina and South Carolina. The FCC’s Friday order authorizing the deal indicates it still has concerns about the transfer, which “will likely cause some competitive and other public interest harms in several local markets” (http://bit.ly/18Swiha). The agency paused its review of the deal in August because it needed additional details on AT&T’s plans to migrate ATN’s prepaid customers onto its network (CD Aug 28 p11). AT&T has since committed to “undertake an aggressive build-out schedule” to upgrade the ATN service areas to its 4G HSPA+ service within 15 months of the deal’s closing and LTE within 18 months, as well as committed to operate Alltel’s 3G Evolution Data Optimized network through June 2015 to “ensure a reasonable transition for providers who have been relying on CDMA and Evolution Data Optimized roaming through the Allied networks,” the FCC said in the order. Allied is a wholly owned subsidiary of ATN. AT&T also agreed to “certain commitments with respect to customer transition and migration,” notably providing ATN subscribers with a comparable phone for free that does not require an extended contract. AT&T also said it’s “exploring opportunities to monetize some or all of its remaining wireless tower assets. The carrier said it will post its Q3 results Oct. 23.

Congress won’t directly intervene on wireless 911 accuracy problems as long as the FCC stays on point, a former FCC bureau chief predicted in an interview. The Find Me 911 Coalition educated Hill staffers about wireless 911 accuracy problems during a briefing Monday in B-338 Rayburn. “We're talking about millions and millions of wireless 911 calls that are not having the location delivered to the 911 centers,” former FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett told us. He’s co-chair of Venable’s telecom group and represented the coalition during the briefing. The coalition includes several public safety organizations, including the U.S. First Responders Association, the Denise Amber Lee Foundation, the International Union of Police Association, AFL-CIO and others. He was joined by officials from the National Emergency Number Association, including Danita Crombach, president of its California chapter, and Director-Government Affairs Trey Forgety and President Brian Fontes as well as Dorothy Spears-Dean, an officer with the National Association of State 911 Administrators. The event focused on a recent CalNENA report, which showcased 911 location accuracy problems affecting cellphone users (CD Aug 14 p4), Barnett said. Multiple carriers showed drops in phase-II location information, with AT&T showcasing a drop from 92 percent in January 2008 to 31 percent in December 2012, according to CalNENA. The August report prompted letters to the FCC from both the House and the Senate this month (CD Sept 16 p16). “We need indoor requirements,” Barnett said, describing big interest among Hill staffers in what he characterized as a “pretty much sold-out briefing.” The coalition did not have to directly prompt the letter-writing, he said, saying House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., “lit off on this,” as did the office of Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., another letter author. The briefing’s message focused on the FCC working with the carriers as well as taking up the problem in a public safety workshop set for Oct. 2, he said. “As long as [the FCC’s attention is] going along, I don’t think the House or the Senate will get involved,” he said, despite acknowledging the bipartisan support for such a public safety issue and the possibility of hearings and additional congressional focus. Indoor location technologies such as NextNav did come up during the briefing, Barnettt added. Venable represents TruePosition, a company engaged in that technology, but the Find Me 911 Coalition is not pushing for any particular requirements linked to one technology, he said.

Hayneville Fiber Transport is upgrading its infrastructure from Montgomery to Mobile, Ala., by building a 4 terabyte-capable regional network, said BTI Systems in a news release Monday (http://yhoo.it/18lpOuQ). Hayneville provides carrier-class services to consumers and businesses through Alabama, said BTI, a networking software and systems provider. Hayneville will provide 100G coherent density, an integrated BTI packetVX carrier Ethernet switching, and a scalable reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer, said BTI.

Capitol Records can continue its copyright infringement case against Vimeo over user-generated lip-sync clips, the U.S. District Court in New York ruled last week (http://bit.ly/1eCt8Gv). In Capitol Records v. Vimeo, the court partially granted and partially denied both sides’ summary judgment motions, saying Vimeo was protected under the safe-harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act for some of the 199 potentially infringing videos, but for those videos in which Vimeo employees had posted comments, the court ruled that “triable issues exist” about whether Vimeo had red-flag knowledge of the infringing content.

An FCC rulemaking on eliminating the UHF ownership discount shouldn’t reach a conclusion about grandfathering in pending deals, Free Press said in an ex parte letter released Friday (http://bit.ly/14AqA63). “There is no mistake that licensees have been on notice of potential changes to this rule for nearly [a] decade now,” the filing said. Free Press said it’s “appropriate” for the commission to seek comment on grandfathering transactions in the NPRM, which is set for the commission’s open meeting agenda Friday (CD Sept 10 p5). However, the agency should eliminate the discount and its NPRM should leave the question of pending transactions open, Free Press said. “The UHF discount is in large part a way to evade the national ownership limits set by Congress,” Free Press said.

The FCC sought comment on an issue raised by Verizon related to the company’s buy of the 45 percent of Verizon Wireless owned by Vodafone. Verizon asked the commission to issue a declaratory ruling “it would not serve the public interest to prohibit a widely dispersed body of shareholders from holding aggregate foreign ownership in Verizon in excess of the 25 percent benchmark in section 310(b)(4)” of the Communications Act. Verizon said the agreement with Vodafone includes Verizon shares being distributed to the U.K.-based company’s shareholders, the public notice said. “Verizon explains that the share distribution may increase the aggregate percentage of Verizon shares held by non-U.S. investors from the current approximately 8.24 percent to an estimated aggregate 24.3-25.3 percent,” the notice said (http://bit.ly/1aZH7SP). “Verizon states that, because it is publicly traded and widely held, the percentage of foreign ownership will necessarily vary somewhat over time as shares are traded on the open market.” Comments are due Oct. 18, replies Nov. 1.

Broadstripe will connect about 700 residents in southern Anne Arundel County, Md., to high-speed broadband in the next several days, said county officials in a news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1gTzRZe). Anne Arundel was one of nine jurisdictions to participate in One Maryland’s Inter-County Broadband Network (ICBN) with funds from the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, said county officials. Before the construction of the network, studies found residents in the region were “completely unserved by any form of wireline broadband service,” they said. The ICBN program built about 800 miles of fiber to nearly 700 schools, libraries and other community anchor institutions in central Maryland, and Anne Arundel took the initiative “a step further” by building fiber connections to a 30-square mile area to allow broadband connectivity directly to residents, said county officials.

The FCC Media Bureau granted Paul Bunyan Rural Telephone Cooperative’s application for certification to operate an open video system in several Minnesota townships (http://bit.ly/1aiLDLb), said an order released Monday. No comments were received by the Media Bureau in connection with Bunyan’s request, said the order. Bunyan’s open video system will serve the communities of Clover Township, Henrietta Township, Savannah Township and Two Inlets Township, the order said.