Senate Communications Subcommittee members agreed the government needs to work to free up more spectrum for wireless consumers and asked wireless executives about the best ways to accomplish that goal. Carriers, as expected, at the subcommittee hearing (CD June 4 p10) said lawmakers should press federal agencies to reallocate or share their spectrum holdings and urged the FCC to quickly advance the commission’s planned broadcast incentive auction.

President Barack Obama directed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to begin creating rules to require patent applicants and patent owners to “regularly” update the ownership information on file at PTO when they are involved in PTO proceedings. The rules are targeted at making “real party in interest” (RPI) disclosure a default action. Obama also directed PTO to develop strategies over the next six months to improve patent claim clarity, particularly in software-related patent applications, and train patent examiners on scrutinizing functional claims. The White House said it will build on the roundtables and workshops that PTO, the Department of Justice and the FTC held last year, announcing it would hold a series of “high-profile events” over the next six months aimed at outreach on patent-related issues and policy updates. PTO will also expand its Edison Scholars Program, which brings in scholars to work at the agency for six-month periods, to develop additional research on patent litigation abuse. PTO also unveiled a set of new education and outreach materials aimed at answering questions from the targets of abusive patent litigation (http://1.usa.gov/15yx9EC).

A special committee appointed by FirstNet Board Chairman Sam Ginn is just getting started on a report on complaints levied against the group at its last regular meeting in April by board member Paul Fitzgerald, sheriff of Story County, Iowa, Ginn said Tuesday during a meeting of the board. FirstNet General Manager Bill D'Agostino said the group has 16 requests for information it will release by the end of August. D'Agostino also said he hopes to have senior staff selected and in place in September who will take over the work that has been done by board members so far.

The FTC is placing a high priority on security in the mobile computing space, FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said during an agency workshop on mobile security Tuesday. Ramirez said the agency will coordinate with law enforcement agencies, engage in consumer and business education and work on policy approaches -- including Tuesday’s workshop -- to combat mobile security issues. “This series of policy dialogues reflects the high priority we place on ensuring that the FTC itself, industry, consumer groups and other stakeholders are all fully attuned to the” issues in the mobile security sphere, she said.

Officials from Time Warner Cable, Verizon and Public Knowledge agreed the FCC should not go back to enforcing net neutrality rules under Title II of the Communications Act if Verizon wins its appeal of the commission’s net neutrality order in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. A Verizon win is likely, said Time Warner Cable Chief Government Relations Officer Gail MacKinnon. “That is what’s widely believed,” she said at a Free State Foundation luncheon Tuesday on what policies the next FCC chairman should pursue. “Title II should be a last resort,” said Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn. “A more narrow fix would be better” than what some consider “the nuclear option” of Title II, she said.

ViaSat’s ViaSat-1 satellite could potentially be operating at capacity by year-end in some high-demand U.S. markets for its Exede broadband service, but won’t be completely filled for three years, CEO Mark Dankberg said Tuesday at the Stephens investor conference in New York.

Municipal telecom networks involve struggle, two leaders responsible for such systems said Tuesday. Utah officials have embarked in recent years on multiple attempts at municipal networks, both as part of the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA) and the iProvo network in Provo. Google recently partnered with that city to take over the network and build out the community as one of its Google Fiber cities (CD April 22 p4). Todd Marriott, CEO of UTOPIA, and Provo Mayor John Curtis described the challenges of running such networks in terms of civic responsibility, finances and the political and public challenges, in a live video discussion hosted by the Salt Lake Tribune Tuesday.

The European Commission is about to act to ensure net neutrality, Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes said Tuesday at a European Parliament forum on guaranteeing competition and the open Internet in Europe. While governments have largely taken a hands-off approach to Internet regulation, there are clearly problems on today’s Internet, she said. Studies show that online services are blocked or throttled for many Europeans, and that people aren’t getting the speeds or quality they paid for, she said.

The petition, filed in November by Sprint Nextel, tw telecom, Cbeyond and others, seeks to reverse the FCC’s decision to refrain from applying dominant carrier regulation to packet-switched and optical special access services (http://bit.ly/11h6dWx). The CLECs had argued that, as a result of the commission’s decisions, ILECs are “essentially free to offer non-TDM-based special access services at any price and on any terms and conditions they choose.” As Ethernet special access service becomes the norm, “unreasonably high prices and anticompetitive conduct” by ILECs will “harm American businesses,” they said.

All indications are Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is still weighing whom to recommend to the White House to replace former Commissioner Robert McDowell on the FCC. McDowell warned Friday that it could be late in the year before the Senate confirms both Tom Wheeler, President Barack Obama’s choice for chairman, and a Republican to fill out the commission (CD June 3 p1). McConnell appears to be looking for a heavy hitter who can stand toe-to-toe with Democrats, industry officials said.