The expected reintroduction of the Internet Radio Fairness Act could be on hold until late fall or early next year, said a House Republican aide familiar with the bill. Aides told us last month sponsors hoped to introduce the bill before the August recess (CD June 17 p16). The bill, which would bring Internet radio royalties in line with the royalties paid by cable and satellite radio companies, was controversial when it was introduced in the last Congress (CD Nov 28 p3). House Intellectual Property Subcommittee Ranking Member Mel Watt, D-N.C., said earlier this week he would introduce a bill to require royalties for over-the-air radio.

Lybid TV is broadcasting to homes in the Ukraine on Eutelsat 36B. Lybid signed a multiyear lease for two transponders on the satellite “that provides premium direct-to-home reach of the Ukraine,” Eutelsat said in a news release Friday (http://bit.ly/14g6OYA). It said the network is broadcasting up to 50 digital channels comprising national Ukrainian channels.

VoIP provider Globalinx’s Globalinx Mobi, a wireless service, “pairs pre-paid, no-contract plans with coast-to-coast wireless coverage,” Globalinx said Friday. Customers using the service will have a choice among feature phones, smartphones or prepaid data cards. The plans start at a $34.95 plan that allows unlimited voice call minutes; the $44.95 plan also features unlimited test messaging; the $59.95 plan also allows for unlimited data, Globalinx said. The plan’s broadband data cards range from $39.95 for 3 GB per month to $59.95 for 6 GB per month (http://bit.ly/1bVCWdd).

Business mobile website provider bMobilized said Friday it’s partnering with SoftBank Broad Band (SoftBank BB) to offer bMobilized’s mobile website conversion platform to SoftBank BB’s partners and customers. The “SoftBank BB Edition” of bMobilized’s technology will include bMobilized’s patented automatic content identifier, which can convert a desktop website to mobile in “a matter of minutes,” bMobilized said. The “SoftBank BB Edition,” which will cost about $20 per month, will be distributed through SoftBank BB’s partner network (http://prn.to/13hRvyo).

The global broadcast and streaming video equipment market topped $2 billion in 2012 and will grow by about 12 percent this year, Infonetics Research said in a Friday release (http://bit.ly/169q0wm) based on a recent Infonetics report. Adaptive bitrate origin and packaging servers, which help deliver over-the-top content efficiently, will grow by a third over the next four years, the report said. The Infonetics report tracks pay-TV subscribers and video equipment sold to telco IPTV, cable and satellite providers, it said.

Inmarsat’s Alphasat I-4A F4 was successfully launched from French Guiana on an Ariane 5 ECA rocket, Inmarsat said in a press release (http://bit.ly/13hxsQF). The satellite is configured “with a new-generation L-band geo-mobile communications relay system that will provide voice and data transmission services across Europe, Africa and the Middle East,” Arianespace said. Arianespace has launched 18 payloads this year, including on its Ariane-5 rocket, it said.

July 28-Aug. 2 Internet Engineering Task Force meeting, Berlin -- http://bit.ly/YGhO08

Using Wi-Fi to track people indoors could be useful in various business applications, Cisco told FCC officials Wednesday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/1bS7Gf2). Cisco cited several possible uses for the technology, which is under development. They included “asset tracking, analytics on people flow, valuing floorspace, find the expert (retail), hospitality - personalized guest engagement; use of unassigned workspace (which cube is empty today?); and turn by turn navigation on a campus or in a hospital.” The “indoor location alliance” is working on various standards that would enable the architecture, Cisco said. “802.11mc Fie Timing Measurement Protocol over the 802.11ac (80Mhz) physical layer” will be able to produce 10 feet of accuracy on a horizontal X/Y axis 90 percent of the time, said the company. More accurate data could be possible with the use of “angle of arrival” data, it said. “Retailers, in particular, are interested in detailed granulation of location data so that they can track traffic through specific aisles in their stores."

Public Knowledge and 18 other organizations asked the FCC Thursday to “provide both certainty to industry and reassurance to the public” by “clearly delineating what responsibilities telecommunications providers have to rebuild in the aftermath of disasters.” The “improvised” government and industry response after Superstorm Sandy “should not be the template for post-disaster recovery in the future, and should not serve as a model for the future of the telecommunications network,” said the letter to acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn. It was co-signed by the New America Foundation, Center for Media Justice,Benton Foundation, Common Cause and others (http://bit.ly/1bS5Gnk). The “premature rollout” of Verizon’s Voice Link on Fire Island “threatens to raise a precedent that puts Americans at risk after natural disaster situations,” said a PK spokesman. “Unless the FCC establishes appropriate responses for situations in which infrastructure is damaged and carriers do not wish to rebuild, policy makers will continue to improvise, carriers will continue to evade their regulatory obligations, and consumers will continue to be harmed,” PK wrote in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1bS6dW5).

AT&T applauded Public Knowledge for laying out a “common sense framework” to help frame the discussion of how to navigate the Internet Protocol transition. In a blog post Wednesday (http://bit.ly/12OrPug), Senior Executive Vice President Jim Cicconi complimented PK’s white paper (CD July 25 p21), saying there were several points that AT&T could have written. “First, this transition has to occur,” Cicconi said. “Second, the fundamental principles of universal connectivity, consumer protection, reliability and public safety -- all hallmarks of our Nation’s centuries old commitment to communications -- should not be lost in this transition.” No one should be left behind as the nation transitions, and AT&T looks forward to a “healthy debate with Public Knowledge” on how to achieve their shared goals, Cicconi said. “We should begin this examination now, while we still have a safety net in place.” AT&T’s comments drew praise from the Consumer Policy Solutions consulting firm. “I find it both interesting and encouraging to see that Public Knowledge and AT&T have come to a place of agreement on what needs to be addressed in the transition to IP-based technologies,” said President Debra Berlyn. “It’s highly important for advocacy groups, industry and government to work together to ensure that this evolution of technology moves forward smoothly while paying close attention to the safety and protection of consumers and ensuring that no one is left behind in this transition.”