Nine data companies’ responses were inadequate to questions about their business practices, said a joint statement Thursday from Reps. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Joe Barton, R-Texas, co-chairs of the Congressional Privacy Caucus, and other lawmakers. “The data brokers’ responses offer only a glimpse of the practices of an industry that has operated in the shadows for years,” the lawmakers said. They want more information about “how they analyze personal information to categorize and rate consumers.” The legislators said they'll “continue our efforts to learn more about this industry and will push for whatever steps are necessary to make sure Americans know how this industry operates and are granted control over their own information” (http://xrl.us/bnyohp).

AT&T’s $14 billion “Project Velocity IP” plan to expand its wireline and wireless broadband network will broaden the company’s reach into areas that are “underserved and unserved” by this technology thus far, industry analysts and brokers told us. AT&T told investors at a company conference Wednesday that it plans to spend $8 billion to expand its 4G LTE wireless broadband coverage and $6 billion to increase offerings of its U-verse and U-verse IPDSLAM services.

A federal three-judge panel should vacate an FCC ruling that barred Northern Valley Communications from requiring long-distance phone companies to pay an access charge on calls to an end-user that receives Northern Valley’s services for free, the competitive LEC argued Monday before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The telco had been levying an access charge on telcos providing long-distance service for calls delivered to its customers. Northern Valley was one of many telcos the FCC said had engaged in “traffic pumping schemes,” in this case because it serves conference-calling companies that naturally generate high incoming call volumes. Although the FCC originally allowed Northern Valley to levy the access charge tariff, the agency said in a brief it eventually rescinded its approval in 2011 over changes to the tariff’s wording (http://xrl.us/bnx5qr).

Nov. 5 Practising Law Institute “talk like a geek” webcast, 9 a.m. -- http://xrl.us/bnudjr

The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials told the FCC that public safety hasn’t given up the 4.9 GHz band. APCO asked that the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council or a committee designated by the commission be tapped to devise a national plan for the band. In June, the FCC approved a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking comment on ways it could push more widespread use of the band, set aside for public safety a decade ago (CD June 14 p 2). One possibility would be allowing use of the 4.9 band by utilities and other critical infrastructure providers and possibly other companies as well, the agency suggested.

FCC staff set precedent for what types of federal candidates TV stations must air ads for in the runup to elections, broadcast lawyers said. Less than six full days before election day, the Media Bureau ordered Gannett’s WUSA Washington to air ads for an unaffiliated presidential candidate on the ballot two states away and not inside what the CBS affiliate said more closely resembled its coverage area. The order said that instead of the mathematical model incorporating terrain in assessing coverage area, another model that the agency has preferred since the DTV transition should be used. An engineer said that commission-preferred model, the noise limited service contour (NLSC), is less precise.

The condition of the U.S. telecom networks affected by Hurricane Sandy has improved slightly since Tuesday, FCC officials said in a Wednesday press briefing. As of 10 a.m. Wednesday the percentage of cell towers out of commission in 158 counties across 10 states and Washington, D.C., was down a few percentage points from the 25 percent high reported Tuesday (CD Oct 31 p1), officials said. Among wireline and cable subscribers in the affected area, slightly fewer than 20 percent were without service as of Wednesday morning in the affected areas, down from 25 percent Tuesday.

Hurricane Sandy began pounding the East Coast with high winds and rain this week, causing several governors to declare states of emergency and triggering widespread concern of outages. State commissions began watching as telcos, 911 centers, county officials and cable operators braced for the impact. The storm was expected to continue Tuesday, and the Office of Personnel Management said federal offices in the Washington area would for a second day be closed to the public (http://xrl.us/bnwozb).

Oct. 29 FCBA Intellectual Property Committee brown bag lunch on Internet Radio Fairness Act, 12:15 p.m., Wilkinson Barker, 2300 N St. NW, Suite 7 -- http://xrl.us/bimfn6

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals must “invalidate this FCC regulatory ‘gun to the head'” that is the FCC’s November 2011 USF order, a coalition of regulators, telcos and consumer advocates said. NARUC led the charge on In re: FCC 11-161 two briefs representing multiple parties, which attacked the FCC on several fronts Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bnvuhd). The ongoing court case challenges the year-old order. The attack was one among many in the 10th Circuit this week. Industry forces weighed in with briefs assailing the FCC for its stances on VoIP and other elements of the order that let the fund pay for broadband and not only phone-service deployment.