The Supreme Court asked the solicitor general for the federal govt.’s views on Sprint Nextel v. NASUCA. That could be good news for carriers that hope to see the 11th U.S. Appeals Court, Atlanta, truth-in-billing (TIB) decision overturned. The high court often listens to views of the solicitor when considering whether to hear a case. The fight pits wireless carriers and the FCC against NASUCA and NARUC.

The FCC Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) should coordinate with the National Communications System and U.S. Customs Service to ensure access to handsets and other satellite terminals during disasters, the Commission said in the text of an order following up on Hurricane Katrina panel recommendations. The satellite industry has made much of its reliability after the storm lay waste to New Orleans and its terrestrial systems.

Qualcomm said it will join wireless carriers in asking the U.S. Appeals Court, Federal Circuit, to stay an International Trade Commission order banning import of new wireless handsets with Qualcomm chips held to infringe a Broadcom patent. Qualcomm also will ask President Bush to veto the decision, the company said. CTIA blasted the move as bad for consumers, saying it will slow 3G network rollouts. COMCARE and the Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials said the order will hurt efforts to make 911 more accurate. ITC in a “split-the-baby decision” Thurs. said the ban will apply to future handset models (CD June 8 p8), but not those already being imported.

The FCC said in a rulemaking on E-911 location requirements all carriers -- GSM and CDMA -- likely will be required to meet the same accuracy standards. The text of the rulemaking also says the Commission believes it has the authority to order carriers to meet tougher testing requirements proposed by the Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials, but is seeking comment anyway “out of an abundance of caution.” The FCC approved the item (CD June 1 p2) last Thurs., but released the text late Fri.

The proposed establishment of an E-block in the 700 MHz band for a public-private partnership to build a public- safety nationwide interoperable network gained momentum at the FCC’s First Responder Summit Fri. -- though one panelist, representing a group that gets Verizon money, kept trying to kill the idea.

The EC should be Europe’s telecom super-regulator, Information Society & Media Comr. Viviane Reding plans to say today (Fri.) at a broadband conference in Greece. Her proposals for revamping the 2003 e-communications regulatory framework won’t emerge until late Oct., but Reding will say for the first time that she believes the Commission, not the European Regulators Group (ERG), should oversee telecom regulation, with national regulatory authorities (NRAs) as advisors.

The FCC may require pay-TV providers and broadcasters to use a new emergency alert standard to relay govt. information on disasters, said agency and industry officials. The FCC seems set to adopt an emergency alert system (EAS) order (CD May 18 p9) at the Thurs. agenda meeting that will require use of common alerting protocol (CAP) -- once FEMA is done working on the system. CAP allows distribution of a single warning message by multiple sources including cable systems, radio and TV. The U.S. govt. permitted CAP testing in 2005. Last-min. 8th floor negotiations on the emergency alert rulemaking’s wording concern how to address multilingual alerts, said media advocacy, broadcast and FCC officials.

Broadcasters stepped up their attack on the XM-Sirius merger, questioning the fundamental arguments that the satellite radio companies are making on why their market isn’t unique and shouldn’t be analyzed on its own as DoJ evaluates their merger application. Meanwhile, Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin told shareholders Thurs. that this week’s XM service disruption (CD May 22 p14) could create an argument for the proposed $11 billion merger, because it shows redundancy is needed.

The Internet tax moratorium set to expire in the fall should get a temporary extension so states can figure out the best way to tax access without hurting broadband penetration or needing to increase other taxes, state officials told the House Judiciary Commercial & Administrative Law Subcommittee on Tues. Industry witnesses challenged states’ contention that taxes indirectly affecting Internet access haven’t slowed broadband penetration or widened the digital divide. But when those tax rates vary nationwide, investment in buildout slows, they said.

House Homeland Security Committee Chmn. Thompson (D- Miss.) had a firm message Tues. for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Undersecy. David Paulison: Finish a plan coordinating local, state and federal emergency response efforts and end bureaucratic turf skirmishes. Paulison irked Thompson when he said the plan, due June 1, won’t be ready until close to July 1. Ranking Member King (R-N.Y.) pressed Paulison about a current International Trade Commission case that could affect first responders’ access to cellphones.