An FCC net neutrality notice of inquiry (NOI) could lead to a Commission report on the subject, Chmn. Martin told us. The notice (CD Sept 25 p3) “asks about what the status of the issue is,” he said Wed.: “That’s what I've asked my colleagues about.” The issue generally has been “very contentious,” but there’s support among commissioners for the agency’s 4 net neutrality principles, Martin said. The notice seeks comment on whether customers can access the websites they want, said 2 other Commission officials. The inquiry isn’t limited to AT&T’s proposed deal to buy BellSouth, they said.

Veteran FCC cable expert William Johnson will retire soon, said industry and agency officials. Johnson was Media Bureau deputy chief until recently, when he was transferred to the Homeland Security Bureau (CD Aug 11 p5), a move seen as a demotion by lobbyists and FCC staffers. Chmn. Martin wouldn’t discuss Johnson’s looming departure when asked about it at a Hill event.

Public comments on 4 indecency orders remanded to the FCC can be viewed at Commission hq in the Reference Information Center, said an agency staffer. There are no plans for the comments to be posted, as they are in most cases. Comments were due yesterday (Thurs.), said an FCC public notice this month. The 2nd U.S. Appeals Court, N.Y. in Fox vs. FCC, sent the orders back to the Commission (CD Sept 8 p2). At an industry conference, FCC Comrs. Adelstein and McDowell were asked about FCC indecency policy, but someone who heard them speak said they offered few guidelines about how broadcasters can avoid running afoul of Commission rules. Adelstein said he doesn’t favor “prior restraint” -- judging a program before it airs -- according to the person who heard him at a breakfast at NAB’s radio show in Dallas. McDowell suggested there’s no bright line on the effect of a program’s context on whether it’s indecent, the attendee said. Adelstein and McDowell said they hope an order on radio multicasting will be completed soon, said a person who heard them speak at a breakfast Thurs. at the NAB radio show. Adelstein said commissioners seem close to agreement on public interest obligations to put in the order, according to another person in the audience. A vote on the order -- which industry officials expect to allow FM multicasts and nighttime AM digital radio -- has been delayed several times (CD Sept 7 p2). It didn’t get on this month’s FCC meeting agenda but could be voted on in circulation. NAB said the show attracted 3,099 registrants.

The 4 other FCC commissioners won’t discuss their views on a 30% cable system ownership limit that Chmn. Martin discussed at an investor conference last week. Aides to the other commissioners said their bosses were unavailable or had no comment on Martin’s opinion that lifting nationwide cable system ownership caps might not benefit consumers (CD Sept 15 p2). A probable reason the commissioners aren’t talking is that there’s no order circulating on the 8th floor about adjusting the limits, said several Commission staffers. The U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., remanded the cap to the Commission in 2001. Comcast is the only cable operator that can’t make significant acquisitions without “running afoul of the 30% cap,” Stanford Group’s Paul Gallant wrote in a note Sept. 15: “Comcast would have difficulty growing larger absent a willingness to agree to FCC merger conditions, which might include passing through quantifiable cost reductions from the merger.”

The FCC issued closed captioning waivers to nonprofit programmers the agency decided would face “undue burden” in complying with a Jan. 1, 2006, mandate that all shows be captioned, said Commission officials. In sending 266 letters, each exempting a show, the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) used the same benchmark as a CGB order last week exempting 2 religious programmers from the rules (CD Sept 14 p17), said FCC officials.

FCC Chmn. Martin requested an inquiry into 2 discarded reports on media ownership after Sen. Boxer (D-Cal.) publicized them in the past week. Late Mon., Boxer’s office wrote Martin about a 2nd Media Bureau document she received that hadn’t been publicized. It found that the number of radio station owners fell 35% 1996-2003, after the Telecom Act lifted national radio ownership limits. Boxer unveiled the first report last week at a hearing on Martin’s renomination, approved Tues. by the Senate Commerce Committee (see separate note).

Cox is raising rates for broadband and other subscribers in several markets. Some Phoenix customers, for instance, will pay more for broadband service starting in Oct., a spokeswoman there said. Phoenix customers will pay $5 more for broadband service monthly starting Oct. 4. The increase, the first in more than 3 years, runs 13% for Cox’s most popular broadband package, a spokeswoman said. Customers will be charged $12.95 monthly for premium packages with channels including HBO, an 18% increase, she said. Omaha- area customers’ average bill will rise 4.5% Oct. 1, said a spokeswoman there. Expanded-basic monthly fees will jump 8.3% to $28.70; HBO subscriptions 6.7% to $15.95. The increases, the 2nd this year, result from higher costs such as for programming, said the official. Broadband prices for Cox customers in Northern Va. went up $2.04 a month Fri. The increases are 3.7-8.2%, depending on connection speed. This is the first time broadband prices have risen since 2002 in the market, where TV prices aren’t being changed, the official said. Price hikes are set by market, a spokeswoman at Cox hq said.

CEA Pres. Gary Shapiro met with all the FCC commissioners last week to argue against waivers for cable operators seeking an extension of a July 1, 2007 CableCARD integration ban deadline. A Pioneer official told an adviser to Comr. Adelstein that the company might make devices similar to a Comcast limited capacity set-top if it were possible under Commission rules, said an ex parte. Pace Micro, which said in a separate filing it supports Charter’s waiver plea, took issue with Pioneer’s remarks, saying: “It is possible today for additional CE manufacturers to enter this market.” Harmonic supported Charter’s request, telling the FCC a waiver would give cable operators more time to convert customers to digital service. Charter pressed its case in meetings last week with aides to Comrs. Adelstein and Copps. Comments on the company’s request and a similar one from Verizon (CD Aug 31 p12) were due late Mon. NCTA remains the only party seeking a waiver that the FCC hasn’t sought public comments on. A request for comments on NCTA’s plan could be issued soon, an agency official told us. Comcast said an FCC waiver would help the switch to digital. “Low- cost set top boxes are crucial to that transition effort,” Comcast -- almost 1/2 its customers getting digital cable -- said in a filing: “Denial of the request would inevitably delay the transition.”

Cable operators bidding on AWS spectrum will probably use it to provide wireless video, access to home PVRs and improved VoIP service, helping the industry fend off video competition from telcos, said industry lawyers and analysts. SpectrumCo had $2.38 billion in high bids in round 148 of the FCC auction, which analysts said is winding down. Consortium members including Comcast and Time Warner are nearly certain to use the spectrum to beef up broadband wireless offerings to existing customers, said 4 lawyers and analysts.

FCC staffers sometimes junk reports when they think the conclusions don’t fit commissioners’ policy goals, said former Media Bureau staffer Adam Candeub, who made news when he told reporters such a report on local TV news was discarded. He was among bureau employees told to return their copies of the 2004 study to supervisors, Candeub told us late Thurs. He can’t recall who asked him for his copy of the paper, by Keith Brown and Peter Alexander, he said. Alexander, now at the International Bureau, didn’t return a call. Brown, no longer at the FCC, couldn’t be located. “This happens at the FCC a lot,” said Candeub, now a Mich. State U. law prof., calling hoopla over the episode “a bit of a dog bites man story.” The report’s conclusion that locally owned TV stations air significantly more news was “striking… It was such a compelling finding,” he added. A copy made its way to Sen. Boxer (D-Cal.), who publicized it Tues. when she asked Chmn. Martin about it at his renomination hearing. She wrote Wed. asking Martin why the report wasn’t made public (CD Sept 15 p10). In response, Martin wrote her: “It is unclear why this report was never released to the public. I am attempting to determine why, but the senior management of the Media Bureau and the Chairman of the Commission at the time are no longer at the Commission.” Media activists including Consumers Union and Media Access Project sent a separate letter asking Martin to request “an independent investigation through the Office of the Inspector General.” The FCC is reviewing the media activists’ letter and hasn’t decided whether to refer the matter to the Inspector Gen., an agency official told us. Michael Powell, FCC chmn. when the report is said to have been junked, denied having a hand in the action. “He had never seen the report. He had never heard of the report until [Thurs.] and had certainly never ordered it destroyed,” Powell’s aide said from a statement written because his boss was traveling.