The FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology agreed to a two-week extension of the Wednesday deadline for reply comments on a Feb. 12 rulemaking notice on the commission’s equipment authorization program. OET acted on a request by the American National Standards Institute Accredited Standards Committee C63. The order released Monday (http://bit.ly/13eqm3C) said “we believe that a short extension of the reply comment deadline will provide parties an opportunity to fully analyze and respond to the many comments filed on a variety of points in response to the Notice.” The new deadline is July 31.

Bryan Burns, ESPN’s ubiquitous point man on HDTV and 3D, has left the company, reasons undisclosed, confirmed spokeswoman Amanda DeCastro. “As a company, we don’t discuss personnel matters past that,” DeCastro told us Monday.

The FCC International Bureau dismissed Towerstream Corp.’s application to temporarily resume operations of its fixed earth station in DeSoto, Texas. The station previously was authorized to communicate with the Intelsat 605 satellite at 27.5 degrees west in the 5850-6425 MHz and 3650-3700 MHz bands, the bureau said in a letter (http://bit.ly/12slRz8). But the station authorization expired March 31, 2012, it said. Intelsat 605 is currently not authorized to operate at 27.5 degrees west, it said. That satellite “was the only authorized point of communication for station KA306,” it said.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) Ad Operations Council and Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence released the final version of their report on the challenges of leveraging the ad code, said IAB in a press release Monday (http://bit.ly/12Esygv). The report, “HTML5 for Digital Advertising 1.0: Guidance for Ad Designers and Creative Technologists,” covers HTML5 ad display units, file and ad unit size, code and asset compression, in-banner video advertising and animation, efficient ad creative packaging and ad serve compatibility communication recommendations. The report responded to public comments from its first release in May that file size restrictions would restrict HTML5’s key benefits, and by removing the file guidance size, the report now recommends creative developers and technologists consult with their publisher and vendor partners on acceptable limits, said IAB. “HTML5 technology is being rapidly adopted in the marketplace, but the code comes with its own set of issues and impediments that need to be confronted,” said Steve Sullivan, IAB ad technology vice president. “This guidance helps break through those barriers, promoting a level of performance and functionality that not only improves the HTML5 experience for marketers, creative designers, publishers, and other industry stakeholders, but elevates the experience for consumers as well."

Comments are due Aug. 14 on a petition by the Lifeline Reform 2.0 Coalition to “commence a rulemaking proceeding for the purpose of amending Lifeline rules to adopt several proposed reforms that, according to the Coalition, will further reduce waste, fraud, and abuse” in the program, the FCC Wireline Bureau said in a public notice Monday (http://bit.ly/18h9p9K). Reply comments in WC docket 11-42 are due Aug. 29.

The Internet Association unveiled its new interactive website to offer users a “tool to engage with policymakers and ensure that the Internet’s voice will be heard,” said the organization in a press release Monday (http://bit.ly/10WQEGO). The new Web portal includes an interactive Take Action center, where users can “Mark Up” important legislation impacting the Internet by leaving edits, comments and suggestions for improvement. The website will let users learn about Internet policy issues and engage with lawmakers through social media, said the Internet Association. “The design is meant to be forward thinking, not only in aesthetics, but also in grassroots engagement,” said Internet Association CEO Michael Beckerman. “It helps empower the global community of Internet users to directly engage decision-makers on Internet policy issues."

SBA Communications said it signed a $303 million deal with Brazilian wireless carrier Oi that gives SBA exclusive use rights for 2,113 towers in Brazil that Oi had been occupying under a long-term government concession. The deal will extend SBA’s presence in Brazil, giving it full ownership or exclusive use rights to more than 3,000 towers. SBA said it expects the deal to close by the end of the year. Once it does, Oi will enter into a long-term lease with SBA for antenna space on the towers; SBA will have the right to lease the remaining space to other carriers, which SBA expects will bring in more than $32 million in revenue in fiscal year 2014. The Oi towers have 1.15 tenants per tower, including all of Brazil’s top wireless carriers (http://bit.ly/10WMLBv).

The FCC extended by fifteen days the reply comment deadline on its indecency policy. Reply comments now are due August 2 in docket 13-86, said a Friday public notice (http://bit.ly/18h4GF4). It granted a request from College Broadcasters Inc. for the delay due to the number of comments, the complexity of the issue, and CBI’s “limited budgets and staffing constraints during the summer portion of the academic year,” the PN said. “We recognize the importance of affording all interested parties sufficient time to review the comments in the Docket and to prepare their reply comments."

Time Warner Cable is subject to effective competition from DBS operators in several communities in Kentucky, the FCC Media Bureau said in an order (http://bit.ly/145GxlG). Time Warner Cable “had sufficient evidence to support its assertion that potential customers in the region are reasonably aware that they may purchase the service” of DirecTV and Dish Network, it said. Also undisputed is the petitioner’s assertion that both multichannel video programming distributors offer service to at least 50 percent of the households in Campbellsburg, Eminence and other communities because of their national satellite footprint, it said.

Federal budgetary pressures are not a “legitimate regulatory concern,” said Fred Campbell, director of the Communications Liberty and Innovation Project at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, in response to a Defense Department warning last week that it would be impacted by potential IP transition trials (CD July 9 p5). The DOD “wants to avoid incurring any costs to upgrade its outdated telephone technologies,” Campbell said in a blog entry Monday (http://bit.ly/11QUHqM). “The appropriate forum for addressing federal budgetary concerns is Congress, not the FCC.” The replacement program for the DOD’s Networx contracting program, set to expire in 2017, is considering the use of “standardized IP” infrastructure and is entitled “Network Services 2020,” Campbell said. “The obvious implication” is that the federal government is considering extending Networx beyond its set expiration date and “is concerned that the IP-transition could hinder its negotiations,” he said. The federal government is free to extend its Networx contract but “it cannot use federal regulation to increase its negotiating leverage,” Campbell said. The FCC should honor DOD’s request to participate in the IP trial site selection process, but it should recognize that most of the concerns raised by the DOD are “primarily commercial in nature,” he said.