Telemundo Rio Grande Valley agreed to pay $8.5 million for KTLM-TV Rio Grande City, Texas, from Sunbelt Multimedia, said the deal’s broker Patrick Communications in an email Monday.

EU regulators threw cold water on the European Commission proposal for a single European telecom market announced last week (CD Sept 12 p5). In a highly critical statement (http://bit.ly/1bn8qsK) Monday, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) said it supports the aim of having a single market and ensuring the best conditions for more investment in the sector, but it’s “concerned that the proposed regulation is being rushed through the European legislature without proper explanation and full exploration of its potential consequences.” Among the problems are that the proposal represents a shift away from the current approach of pro-competition rules toward one that favors market consolidation, BEREC said. And the draft regulation would jeopardize the integrity of the EU framework in terms of investment, competition and consumer benefit, it said. It’s “important to bear in mind that the state of the sector in Europe is not quite as bleak as has been suggested,” it said. BEREC also slammed the draft for potentially undermining legal certainty, and for signaling a “substantial shift” in the balance of power among the EC, EU countries and national regulators by centralizing some control at the EU level. BEREC also complained that the EC didn’t consult it or other stakeholders in drafting the package, missing out on the chance to test whether its plan would meet stated objectives or have unintended consequences. BEREC didn’t say anything explicit about the “delicate chapters of the proposal such as spectrum allocation, net neutrality and international roaming,” wrote independent telecom consultant Innocenzo Genna on his radiobruxelleslibera blog (http://bit.ly/1812jah). Regulators may share some general ideas with the EC on these issues but may also have reservations on specific measures, he said. BEREC’s statement “is a very bad signal” for the EC in light of the fact that EU telecom ministers will meet Oct. 24-25, he said. National authorities are reflecting the wider concerns of European governments with respect to the proposal, he said.

The Lifeline program must be updated to address broadband, wrote acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn and Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., in a joint op-ed for The Hill Monday. They each advocated similar positions last week (CD Sept 13 p5). The op-ed described the program’s history, its importance and the challenges in reforming it to prevent fraud and abuse. “And it’s important that we look ahead,” Clyburn and Matsui wrote (http://bit.ly/17E6FDA). “Plain old voice service is necessary, but clearly not sufficient in today’s communications ecosystem. Universal broadband is imperative for all Americans, especially as our economy becomes increasingly linked to the Internet.” They pointed to the FCC’s Lifeline broadband pilot program. “The data the Pilot produces will guide us all as we consider the future of Lifeline and in Congress, the Broadband Adoption Act would allow households that qualify for Lifeline support to choose support for landline service, mobile service or broadband,” they said.

Eventis completed its Greater Minnesota Broadband Collaborative Project to extend its fiber network to connect healthcare facilities, schools, libraries, higher education institutions and public offices to a high-capacity broadband network, said the company in a news release Monday (http://bit.ly/180wGhe). Eventis, a subsidiary of HickoryTech, received a $16.8 million grant from the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, and the company invested about $6.3 million, or 30 percent, in the project, said Eventis. The company built about 430 fiber route miles across northern Minnesota to connect the network to the existing fiber network, said Eventis.

An arbitral tribunal with the International Chamber of Commerce of Paris allowed SES to operate additional satellite spectrum at the 28.2/28.5 degrees east orbital arc. SES was given the right to use the German Ku-band orbital frequencies at that position effective Oct. 4, SES said in a news release (http://bit.ly/16xE96W). SES procured and will launch and operate new satellites at that arc “to replace SES’ existing fleet at 28.2 degrees east and to provide new capacity,” it said. Last year, Eutelsat requested arbitral proceedings, claiming that by using 500 MHz of bandwidth in that arc, SES breached a 1999 agreement it signed with Eutelsat, Eutelsat said in a news release (http://bit.ly/14b05DV). Eutelsat said it will “vigorously defend its right to use the disputed frequencies from Oct. 4 and to act in the best interests of clients,” it said. The tribunal concluded that SES wasn’t barred from using the bands “if and when Eutelsat no longer holds the regulatory right to operate in those bands under the German filing,” SES said. The arbitral tribunal will later decide whether SES was entitled to sign an agreement in 2005 with Media Broadcast, the German service provider, “without breaching its obligations under the ICA [Intersystem Coordination Agreement],” Eutelsat said.

T-Mobile and Verizon jointly submitted a proposed band plan to the FCC for the incentive auction in the 600 MHz band. “While we continue to support our respective positions on issues raised in this proceeding, we agree strongly that our proposed band plan will best enable the wireless industry to meet the public’s burgeoning demand for mobile broadband services,” the carriers said in a joint letter. “Specifically, we believe the Commission should adopt a band plan that satisfies four principles: (1) maximize the amount of paired spectrum available for mobile broadband; (2) allow for the cost-effective and timely development of network equipment and end-user devices; (3) facilitate a single 3GPP band class to provide interoperability across all paired blocks in the 600 MHz band; and (4) allocate for supplemental downlink use any unpaired spectrum not needed to protect 600 MHz broadband operations against harmful interference."

Level 3 Communications enabled the Tennis Channel to deliver the U.S. Open Tennis Championships as part of its TV Everywhere application, said Level 3 in a news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1692ADv). The company said it delivered more than 75 hours of live or first-run U.S. Open matches to connected viewers, and it will continue to stream the network 24/7. The Tennis Channel used Level 3’s content delivery network and Vyvxx capabilities to give viewers around the world an HD experience on their iOS, Android and Desktop devices, said Level 3.

Nielsen launched a free mobile app, Topten, which gives consumers a listing of categories showing the content viewers are watching and buying. Categories cover TV shows, music, movies, websites, books, video games, mobile apps and consumer products, including cosmetics, candy and alcohol, Nielsen said. Users can personalize the app to their preferences including age, location and gender. Topten, initially available in the U.S. for iOS and Android devices, includes a Twitter feed, top trending stories from BuzzFeed, Billboard’s Top 100 song list and a Bing search engine. According to the data from our New York ZIP code, the top TV program viewed last week was NFL “Thursday Night Football” and Katy Perry’s “Roar” was top song. Facebook was the most-used app and Smirnoff vodka was the top-selling alcohol for the week, Nielsen said. Data is based on Nielsen’s proprietary research and tools, the company told us, and mobile app rankings are based on usage data, not number of downloads. Nielsen Retail Measurement Services provides the point-of-sale transaction data for the consumer products category, it said. Future categories will include limited-time top 10 lists based on a season, it said.

Russia joined the ranks of signatories to the World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement, said the WTO Friday in a news release (http://bit.ly/18p33SG), becoming the 78th country to accede to the ITA pact. To join, Russia reduced tariffs on information technology products from 5.4 percent to zero. ITA signatories export 97 percent of global information technology products. “The ITA continues to be one of the most important trade agreements for the global [information and communications technology] industry,” said the Telecommunications Industry Association in a news release, applauding Russia’s decision (http://bit.ly/150w5rT).

NCTA is in agreement with a consensus (CD Aug 20 p15) among the American Council of the Blind, the American Foundation for the Blind and CEA on how proposed rules to make user interfaces and programming guides more accessible for disabled consumers should be applied, said an ex parte letter at the FCC (http://bit.ly/19XB1B3). The groups have agreed that Section 205 of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) -- which covers accessibility of program guides -- should apply to set-top boxes supplied by multichannel video programming distributors, while Section 204 -- which requires user interfaces to be accessible -- would apply to non-MVPD devices sold at retail, said the letter. “MVPDs must make an accessible solution available to eligible customers who request one, but the solution can be of the MVPD’s choosing,” said the letter. “This is in stark contrast to how AFB and ACB read the requirements of Section 204, in which manufacturers must make equipment of the customer’s choosing accessible unless it is not achievable to do so.” NCTA, AFB and AFB -- CEA is not involved -- have also reached an agreement on how consumers seeking accessible devices should be required to prove their eligibility for such devices to MVPDs. Though the consumer groups had previously opposed industry efforts to require proof of disabilities (CD Sept 6 p14), AFB, ACB and NCTA now agree that the FCC should “permit, but not require MVPDs to establish eligibility criteria for customers requesting audibly accessible onscreen text menus or guides.” If an MVPD does set up requirements, they have to be “reasonable,” said the ex parte, which could include documentation from doctors, social workers or other service providers with direct knowledge of the disability or proof of participation in a nationally established program for the visually impaired, said the letter. Visually impaired consumers would only need proof of eligibility when “the accessible solution would not be covered under their existing level of service and equipment,” said the letter.