The House Judiciary Committee plans a hearing to examine the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) at 10 a.m. April 25 in 2141 Rayburn. Witnesses have not been announced.
Clarification: The FCC Media Bureau has granted about 150 FM translator construction permits in recent weeks, including 39 on Wednesday (CD April 19 p10).
NTIA said its Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee will meet June 18, 1-4 p.m. EDT at the Commerce Department (http://1.usa.gov/ZCrCsl). More details are to follow.
Charter Communications is offering $1 billion in senior unsecured notes due in 2024, using the money to buy back other senior notes due in 2018, the cable operator said in a news release Friday (http://bit.ly/11owd32). It said a unit is also getting a $1.2 billion term loan and engaging in other refinancing and other activities. Charter’s leverage “poses risk considering the pressure on revenue from its increasingly mature core video offering” that represents about half of sales, Moody’s said. It said “Charter’s initiatives to enhance its product set, especially the video offering, and to implement changes to its selling strategy and organizational structure will keep operating and capital expenditures elevated,” as greater product penetration and expanding its commercial business boost cash flow.
The FCC International Bureau granted DirecTV authority to construct, launch and operate DIRECTV KU-76W at 76 degrees west. DirecTV is authorized to provide fixed satellite service, including direct-to-home service, using the 11.7-12.2 GHz (uplink) and 14.0-14.5 GHz (downlink) frequency bands, the bureau’s Satellite Division said in a public notice. In a separate public notice, the division accepted a request from SES to modify authorization for the AMC-5 satellite. SES wants to operate the satellite at 80.85 degrees west, rather than 80.90 degrees west, it said. It also wants to extend the satellite’s license term from Nov. 30, 2013, to July 31, 2014, it said.
A National Lifeline Accountability Database must be put into place in order to prevent duplicate Lifeline support from being made available, Nexus Communications told the FCC in a letter Thursday (http://bit.ly/ZxoDVg). It’s “one of the most effective reforms” that could be made, because it will stop errant support at the outset, rather than the FCC having to make “after-the-fact corrections,” Nexus said. Nexus asked that all eligible telecom carriers get equal access to databases of Lifeline-qualifying programs administrated at the state level, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medicaid, and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
Comments are due May 20 on FCC indecency policy, replies June 18, in docket 13-86, the agency said in Friday’s Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/12sEFRe). The Enforcement Bureau and Office of General Counsel, disclosing a reduction in backlogged complaints, had sought comment on the agency’s policy approach (CD April 2 p1).
SES led the first Ultra HD transmission in the new High Efficiency Video Coding standard live from an Astra satellite at 19.2 degrees east. The standard features “an up to 50 percent encoding efficiency improvement,” SES said in a press release. The transmission was demonstrated at an SES event in Luxembourg. It broadcast a full 3840 x 2160 pixel Ultra HD picture in HEVC, “while previous demonstrations were either broadcast in H.264 or using 4 HD pictures in parallel,” it said. The transmission was demonstrated through a partnership with Harmonic and Broadcom Corp., SES said.
Vonage sees direct access to phone numbers, a limited trial of which the FCC approved 4-0 Thursday (CD April 19 p1), as the “future of telecommunications,” said Kurt Rogers, chief legal officer. Such direct access allows “lower-cost, higher-quality voice service and innovation in developing new services, which benefits consumers,” he said in an e-mail Thursday. The trial, which will give Vonage direct access to up to 145,000 numbers, will provide “real-world data to demonstrate that the technical concerns raised by some opponents are without merit,” Rogers said. The agency also has released the text of the direct-access order, notice of inquiry and NPRM (http://bit.ly/17LuSYV).
Two NPRMs on expanding broadband access for passengers on planes and promoting commercial space operations are on the tentative agenda for the FCC monthly meeting May 9. The NPRM on in-flight broadband seeks to improve consumer access to broadband on aircraft and to “encourage innovation through establishment of an air-ground mobile broadband service in the 14.0-14.5 GHz band, while ensuring that existing users are protected from interference,” the commission said in a news release Thursday (http://fcc.us/Yy3pDa). The commercial space operations item also includes a notice of inquiry aimed at easing access to spectrum for commercial space operators and enabling increased government use of commercial satellite services, it said. The meeting will be at 10:30 a.m. in the Commission Meeting Room.