Trinity Broadcasting Network subsidiaries are seeking to register C-band, receive-only earth stations in Texas. San Antonio Community Educational TV wants to register its San Antonio earth station, it said in its application to the FCC International Bureau (http://bit.ly/1diNlhn). Community Educational Television seeks to register its earth station in Orange, Texas, it said (http://bit.ly/1eVmCZZ). The earth stations will be used to provide analog and digital broadcast and programming services to their users, the applications said.

The American Enterprise Institute launched a new center for technology policy, it said in a Monday release (http://bit.ly/196OtSg). The Center for Internet, Communications and Technology Policy will “advance ideas that encourage innovation, competition, liberty, and growth in Internet and other high-tech policy areas,” it said. The center will host a blog on communications and Internet policy, at TechPolicyDaily.com.

The House Cybersecurity Subcommittee plans a markup Wednesday on two cybersecurity bills, the Homeland Security Committee said Friday night (http://1.usa.gov/196G4OE). First, the Critical Infrastructure Research and Development Advancement Act of 2013 (HR-2952), sponsored by subcommittee Chairman Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., would require the Department of Homeland Security to submit a strategic plan for the overall direction of cybersecurity technology research and development efforts (http://bit.ly/196HRDj). DHS would also have to submit a study on the use of public-private research and development consortiums for critical infrastructure protection. The subcommittee will also mark up a bill that Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., plans to introduce, it said. That bill, under the working title “Homeland Security Cybersecurity Boots-on-the-Ground Act,” would require a further assessment from DHS of the cybersecurity workforce, the committee said.

Music streaming service Rdio will launch free, ad-supported products in the U.S. following a partnership with the radio station network Cumulus, the two said in a Monday release (http://bit.ly/196EtrW). Cumulus will take a “significant equity stake” in Pulser Media, Rdio’s parent company, in exchange for an online presence through Rdio, including exclusive content, media and on-air promotional commitments for the next five years, the companies said. Cumulus’s sales infrastructure will help Rdio launch its new products, it said.

Intelsat and Discovery Communications signed an agreement for capacity on Intelsat 19. Discovery will use that capacity “to expand the reach of its more than 190 worldwide television networks, including its portfolio in the Asia-Pacific region,” Intelsat said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1aBreSj). The satellite, at 166 degrees east, offers primary C-band distribution for many leading programmers and a Ku-band direct-to-home platform for customers in Australia and New Zealand, it said.

Intelligence officials will brief the House Judiciary Committee this week on how the government makes use of its surveillance abilities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The committee plans a classified hearing, open only to members of the committee and committee staff with appropriate security clearance, Wednesday at 10 a.m. in 2141 Rayburn. “Recent leaks about surveillance programs operated by the National Security Agency have raised legitimate concerns and questions about whether there are sufficient protections for Americans’ civil liberties and privacy and whether there is adequate oversight and transparency of the programs,” said House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., in a statement. He wants laws “executed in a manner that complies with the law and protects Americans’ civil liberties,” noting the thorough review this week would be to determine if legal changes are necessary. House Judiciary had an open hearing on these issues in July and now this closed hearing “will afford Members the opportunity to further probe how these surveillance programs are operated,” the hearing notice said. The hearing’s witnesses include Deputy Attorney General James Cole; Robert Litt, general counsel of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; NSA Deputy Director John Inglis; and Andy McCabe, assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division.

The NAB was hypocritical last week as it asked Congress for “massive ‘retransmission consent’ payments” while discouraging performance royalties, the musicFIRST coalition wrote in a blog post last week (http://bit.ly/19PQbs2). “NAB representatives who went to Capitol Hill got clobbered two days in a row in the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Judiciary Committee for their galling hypocrisy,” the group said, pointing to comments from Reps. Mel Watt, D-N.C., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., that were critical of the NAB.

Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) Wi-Fi technology will account for $150 billion in operator revenue by 2018, the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) said Friday in a report. The report, done with research firm Senza Fili, said the technology has advanced as a result of advanced trials involving major operators and vendors. The additional interest “will ultimately give users easier access to a far greater number of public Wi-Fi access points around the world, without the need for usernames and passwords,” WBA said in a news release. The increased need for additional Wi-Fi capacity to address mobile data usage issues has resulted in a move away from legacy hotspot Wi-Fi technology and toward NGH, WBA said. A higher proportion of data traffic carried over HG Wi-Fi results in reduced per-bit costs, with carriers reporting their per-bit RAN costs reduced by 18 percent when they use NGH to carry 20 percent of their data traffic, the report said. The per-bit cost of a network that uses NGH Wi-Fi and 4G small cells could be as low as 38 percent of the cost of a 3G macro network, WBA said in the report (http://bit.ly/14Ni8CA).

FCC International Bureau Chief Mindel de la Torre assured a lawmaker that the commission is reviewing LightSquared’s license modification proposal. FCC staff “is reviewing these filings and the complex technical issues associated with LightSquared’s proposals,” she said in a letter to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. Manchin urged the FCC to approve LightSquared’s plan to deploy terrestrial downlink operations at 1670-1680 MHz, he said in a letter posted last week (http://bit.ly/1eMltUq). The proposal would generate significant competition within the wireless industry because competitive resellers and device manufacturers could use the company’s capacity “to provide customers with quality high-speed Internet access at more affordable prices,” he said.

FirstNet officials met with its 41-member Public Safety Advisory Committee Wednesday in San Diego, FirstNet said in a news release Friday (http://1.usa.gov/18XPdc7). The meeting included a progress report and talk about support activities, it said. PSAC Chairman Harlin McEwen left the meeting “very pleased,” he said in a written statement. “In addition to a large turnout of PSAC members, five FirstNet board members attended,” he said. “The technical briefings were excellent, and the exchange between the PSAC members, those conducting the briefings and the Board members was encouraging.” FirstNet Deputy General Manager TJ Kennedy also sought feedback from PSAC members on FirstNet network eligible users, the role of secondary users and support personnel, FirstNet said.