France’s telecom regulator has the power to gather information on interconnection and data-routing markets even from players outside the EU, said the country’s highest administrative court Wednesday (in French: http://xrl.us/bpfkbp). The Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques et des postes (ARCEP) has been collecting the information as part of its approach to dealing with net neutrality, it said. The interconnection and data-routing markets are “home to complex and potentially strained relationships” between ISPs, providers of public online communication services (PPOCS) and technical intermediaries such as transit operators and content delivery networks, it said. ARCEP’s twice-yearly information-gathering campaigns were challenged by U.S. carriers AT&T and Verizon and their French subsidiaries. But ARCEP said the surveys are vital to its ability to ensure that the markets run smoothly from the technical and economic perspective, particularly when it might have to settle possible disputes between ISPs and PPOCSs. The ruling confirms ARCEP’s power to query all market undertakings, including those outside the EU, that have business and/or activity that could significantly affect Internet users in France, the regulator said.

SES and NordNet partnered to offer a new on-demand satellite broadband solution in France. The service offers download speeds of up to 20 Mbps “for second residences and holiday homes in France,” said SES in a news release Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1301PdW). NordNet will use additional Ka-band capacity on the ASTRA 2F satellite, SES said. It said the offering includes a permanent VoIP connection and “access to television channels from the ASTRA orbital slot 19.2 degrees east."

The European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) signed a cybersecurity collaboration agreement with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), it said Wednesday. The initiative is intended to foster better understanding of and resolve network and information security (NIS) issues related to standardization, particularly in the different information and communication technology sectors relevant to ENISA’s work, it said. This is in line with ENISA’s newly broadened scope, which allows it to be more proactive in supporting the creation of NIS standards, it said. Under the agreement, ENISA will be an observer on specific technical committees, working groups and workshops of the standards-setting bodies. They in turn will evaluate relevant ENISA research results and transfer them to their standardization activities. The agreement calls for the organizations to distribute and promote publications, results, meetings and seminars, and to help each other establish industry contacts and research networks for NIS standards-related tasks. They will also co-host events addressing technology and research issues related to NIS standardization activities, and exchange information on topics of common interest, ENISA said. Recognized standards for European NIS help boost security, said ENISA Executive Director Udo Helmbrecht. The agreement could increase Europe’s competitive edge as a provider of cybersecurity products and services, he said.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) granted Vonage two patents on voice traffic management and automated inventory management and authentication technology, said the company in a Tuesday news release. U.S. Patent 8,483,210 deals with technology that maintains voice quality on VoIP telephone adapters and other devices that transmit voice and non-voice communications by adjusting the device’s bandwidth, Vonage said. Patent 8,478,548 deals with technology that allows network operators to verify that VoIP telephone adapters and other devices that connect to their networks were “distributed through authorized channels,” Vonage said. PTO has granted Vonage nine patents this year, and the company said it has another 180 patent applications pending at PTO (http://bit.ly/11zwy81).

Time Warner Cable has begun offering discounted wireline service through the FCC’s Lifeline program to qualifying customers in New York, the operator said Tuesday. The discounted service will be available to Time Warner Cable Home Phone subscribers who participate in a government-assistance program like Medicaid or Food Stamps, said the company in a news release. Customers could begin applying for the service Tuesday. Customers who use the service will need to verify their continued eligibility after one year, the company said (http://bit.ly/1aWScpR).

NAB wants the FCC to issue an order “resolving the questions surrounding which full power and Class A broadcasters will be protected” in the incentive auction, the association told agency staff Friday, said an ex parte filing Tuesday. “The Commission does not need to wait for other parts of the incentive auction process to make its determinations regarding which stations are protected and what encroachments the Commission can make, if any, on the coverage areas and populations served by TV stations that do not sell their spectrum to the government in the auction,” NAB said. “The commission should also lift the indeterminate and now three-month-old freeze on broadcast TV station modification applications.” The association asked the FCC to hold hearings on “critical auction topics” to promote transparency and “provide opportunities for Commissioners and their staffs to hear directly from industry and the public interest community in the same forum.”

Legislators current and former discussed how to promote, introduce and enact legislation centered on minority and women’s business ownership and participation Tuesday at a Minority Media and Telecommunications Council conference. They tied such legislation to broadband and 21st-century connectivity needs. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., described a Tuesday morning meeting at the White House in which President Barack Obama discussed his ConnectED program first in the course of a 75-minute meeting. “Nine billion dollars in ConnectED to connect these institutions -- that is great progress,” Butterfield said. Congress must “act quickly” in updating its communications policy, and consumers “ultimately pay the price of burdensome rules,” he said. Those without broadband are “disenfranchised,” he said, praising the federal government’s broadband stimulus grants. Officials run into political obstacles in enacting legislation, speakers said. “It’s as bad as it appears and probably even worse,” Butterfield said of partisanship. Tennessee State Rep. Joe Armstrong (D), president of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, lamented the political “gridlock” nationally that “puts pressure on us as state lawmakers.” Banks are afraid to lend, fearing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will ask them to raise more capital due to loans at risk, said former Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. County governments are “still an untapped resource,” said Stephanie Lynch, president of the National Organization of Black County Officials. She wants to “make sure county officials are at the table,” she said. But “we cannot afford to just sit around and look as things begin to move,” said former Rep. Ed Towns, D-N.Y. He urged focused collaboration.

The FCC International Bureau dismissed applications from Intelsat, Harris Corp. and Production & Satellite Services concerning fixed earth stations. The companies listed “ALSAT,” a group of satellites owned by Algeria, as desired points of communication, said the bureau in separate letters. Because only earth stations that meet routine licensing criteria may be granted ALSAT as a point of communication, Intelsat’s application “is internally inconsistent and does not substantially comply with the commission’s rules,” said the bureau’s Satellite Division in a letter (http://bit.ly/1aWOYT8). Harris’ application doesn’t provide the model number of the Patriot antenna that it seeks to add, said the division in another letter (http://bit.ly/14H2LIz). The effective isotropic radiated power density per carrier levels listed by Production & Satellite Services are inconsistent, the division said in a third letter (http://bit.ly/12WwjBX).

The wealth gap between African Americans and Hispanics and other Americans can only be bridged through innovation, education and entrepreneurship, said panelists at a Minority Media and Telecommunications Council conference Tuesday. Representatives of government agencies and the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee spoke about access to capital, federal contracts and counseling and mentoring as important steps to address the wealth gap. “Through business ownership, we have an opportunity to build wealth,” said Jane Campbell, majority staff director for the committee. There needs to be an “increased focus on entrepreneurship, and we need to have support for industries across the board,” said Marie Johns, ex-Small Business Administration deputy administrator. Disparities in broadband adoption contribute the wealth gap, said Maureen Lewis, NTIA director-minority telecom development. “The administration is focusing on broadband in the home because it enables so many things that aren’t convenient or appropriate to do in public settings. It’s important for everyone to be connected at home.” Minorities need to have access to education and entrepreneurship to get involved in the tech sector, said Campbell. “We need to get African Americans fully in the conversation about technological development and have access to the capital to move them forward.”

The FCC denied Spectrum Five’s request for a review of the International Bureau’s decision to grant EchoStar special temporary authority to move its EchoStar 6 satellite. The bureau denied Spectrum Five’s request to stay the STA (CD April 24 p18). Spectrum Five claimed the bureau didn’t properly address the international coordination process in its analysis, the FCC said in a memorandum opinion and order (http://bit.ly/185fHt5). The bureau “appropriately considered the potential impact of EchoStar 6 operations on the established services offered by DirecTV” at the 101 degrees west orbital location, it said. The U.S. and U.K. ratified the operator-to-operator arrangement between DirecTV and SES Bermuda, which ensures that DirecTV’s established U.S. operations at this orbital location will be fully protected on an ongoing basis, it said. The U.S. and the U.K. also agreed to protection of Spectrum Five’s U.S.-licensed satellite at 95 degrees west, “based on assurances provided by SES Bermuda.” Spectrum Five’s allegations concerning harms to it and competition “are speculative and based on unsupported assumptions,” it said.