NAB proposed regulatory language to protect broadcasters and users of Fixed-Satellite Service earth-to-space communications, in a filing at the FCC Monday, if the FCC approves use of the 14 GHz band, on a secondary basis, for better wireless broadband on commercial flights. The Satellite Industry Association questioned whether the band is well suited to in-flight broadband given the interference risks for FSS. In May, the FCC launched a rulemaking seeking comment on a Qualcomm proposal for a terrestrial-based air-ground mobile broadband service in the band (CD May 10 p5).

Rules have been tightened for who may offer Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service and who’s eligible to use it. In an order released Monday evening (http://bit.ly/19KiEQP), the FCC prohibited referrals-for-reward programs and other incentives for registering or referring IP CTS customers. It required providers to register customers directly and obtain a self-certification of eligibility. It also said providers can’t get compensation from the Telecommunications Relay Service Fund if the consumer received an IP CTS device for no charge, or bought it for less than $75.

CTIA cited support from wireless carriers and the National Emergency Number Association in arguing that the FCC should alter the roaming requirement embedded in the commission’s May 17 text-to-911 order. CTIA responded directly to the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, which said earlier this month the requirement should stand as written (CD Aug 19 p4). The order requires all carriers and interconnected text messaging providers to send an automatic bounceback text message to consumers where text-to-911 service is not available, starting Sept. 30.

Frontier Communications received a $1.5 million grant from the Illinois governor’s office to develop a gigabit broadband network for southern Illinois, said Gov. Pat Quinn (http://1.usa.gov/17frvtf). The grant is part of a partnership of Frontier North, the city of Carbondale, Southern Illinois University and Connect Southern Illinois to provide a gigabit network to the community and the university. “To remain competitive in today’s digital society, Illinois must have broadband infrastructure second to none,” said Quinn (D) on Friday. The grant was issued through the governor’s Illinois Jobs Now! capital construction program.

The FCC should ignore any calls that the agency allow cell jamming as a means of combating contraband cellphones in prison, CTIA said in reply comments filed at the FCC. A May NPRM asked a battery of questions about what the administration sees as a growing problem for corrections officials (CD May 1 p1). CellAntenna, which manufactures jamming equipment, said jamming has a role and the FCC should permit various technologies because use of contraband cellphones poses a danger to the public and to corrections officers. The American Correctional Association (ACA) said the FCC should allow various technologies, including jamming.

Entropic Communications Q3 revenue will plunge 20 percent from Q2 as it struggles with slower demand from U.S. cable operators for high definition terminal adapters (HD-DTA) and DirecTV moves toward an integrated Multimedia over Coax (MoCA) strategy and away from standalone chips, said Entropic CEO Patrick Henry on a conference call.

Acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn’s admonishment to carriers that they should work toward an “industry-wide cellphone unlocking solution” was not directly tied to any one event or series of industry meetings, but instead reflects Clyburn’s sense that a solution is possible, industry and agency officials said Friday. Clyburn released the statement Thursday (CD Aug 23 p13).

Providing emergency description for video accessed over Internet Protocol on mobile devices would present “tremendous technical challenges,” said NAB and other industry groups in reply comments filed Thursday. The comments responded to the commission’s rulemaking on emergency video description, released with the video description order in April (CD April 10 p6) as part of the agency’s implementation of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. The industry groups also challenged the FCC’s right to make the proposed mobile device rules. “The CVAA authorized the commission to reinstate its previous video description rules, but not to extend those rules to include IP-delivered video programming of any type,” said the Entertainment Software Association.

The White House has until early October to decide whether to veto a U.S. International Trade Commission exclusion order that would ban the import of certain Samsung mobile devices because they violated two Apple patents: U.S. Patent Nos. 7,479,949 and 7,912,501 (CD Aug 15 p10). The exclusion order against Samsung is the latest episode in a yearslong series of legal battles at the ITC and federal courts between the top smartphone manufacturers as each seeks to gain market share. Patent attorneys and industry experts told us court-ordered sales bans typically have only a limited effect on the wireless carriers that have deals with the manufacturers to provide mobile devices to their subscribers.

The FCC should take action against Comcast’s use of data caps in “test markets” and start monitoring usage-based pricing, Public Knowledge said Thursday in a letter to acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn (http://bit.ly/150H1EE) and in a blog post(http://bit.ly/17NjeLl). Video viewed online as part of Comcast’s Xfinity service on an Xbox 360 or TiVo doesn’t count against Comcast’s data caps, said Public Knowledge Vice President Michael Weinberg in an interview Thursday. That violates conditions of the Comcast/NBCU merger designed to protect competition in online video and undermines “the ability of video providers unaffiliated with ISPs to compete with those video providers that are also ISPs,” said Public Knowledge’s letter. In the letter, Weinberg asked the FCC to take action on a Public Knowledge petition filed on the matter a year ago (CD Aug 12 p2). “The FCC has a responsibility to at least investigate if their merger conditions are being violated,” Weinberg told us.