Federal agencies could do a better job soliciting and responding to comments from the public, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bobvzg). From 2003-10, agencies failed to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking 35 percent of the time when passing “major” rules, the report found. GAO defined a major rule as one that has a significant impact on the economy, with an annual effect of at least $100 million. For “nonmajor” rules, which have less economic significance and involve more routine issues, agencies neglected to publish an NPRM 44 percent of the time, the report said. GAO recommended that the Office of Management and Budget encourage agencies to respond to comment on final major rules that were issued without an NPRM.

AT&T unveiled a small spectrum buy Tuesday, proposing to pay Atlantic Tele-Network $780 million for former Alltel assets Verizon Wireless had spun off in a deal that closed in April 2010. The deal gives AT&T spectrum licenses mostly in the 850 MHz band, network assets, retail stores and some 585,000 subscribers in rural parts of six states -- Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio and South Carolina, the companies said. The deal must be cleared by the FCC and the Department of Justice.

Verizon Wireless had a record-setting Q4, but its majority owner, Verizon Communications, said Tuesday that it had a $4.22 billion loss in earnings during the quarter due to changes to their benefits and pension plans, debt restructuring and costs related to Superstorm Sandy. Verizon Communications owns 55 percent of Verizon Wireless, and Vodafone the rest. Verizon Communications’ Q4 earnings loss was more than double its $2 billion loss at the same time in 2011. This year’s loss was despite a rise in total quarterly revenue to $30 billion -- the highest amount in 2012 and up from $28.4 billion at the same time in 2011, it said (http://xrl.us/bobv55).

NAB wants a delay in its appeal of FCC rules requiring that public files go online. The association’s Friday request for the appeals court hearing the case to hold NAB v. FCC in abeyance could give the agency more time to work out a middle ground between broadcasters that opposed the order and nonprofits that back such disclosure, public interest lawyers told us. They didn’t contest the association’s motion to hold case No. 12-1225 in abeyance. The filing is separate from NAB’s efforts to get commission staff to eliminate some requirements that years-old documents now in paper form in TV stations’ studios must go online starting next month, industry officials said. They said the Media Bureau had been working on such efforts, but not yet ruled.

The FTC cited an alleged $70 million cramming operation in Montana, in an announcement Tuesday. The complaint said the charges violate Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, which forbids “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.” The companies also acted wrongly in telling consumers they were obligated to pay the charges, it said. The FTC filed the civil complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana in Missoula on Jan. 8 after the commission voted 5-0 to proceed, the agency said in a Tuesday release (http://xrl.us/bobvo4). The defendants have argued for a stay and said the complaint is identical to another government investigation in progress.

Reply comments on intrastate access charge reform before the New York State Public Service Commission continue to show a sharp split among parties. The divide is between AT&T and Sprint Nextel, which both argue for settling the reform through litigation, and a November joint proposal. Verizon, the PSC staff, cable companies, smaller telcos, tw telecom and Level 3 argued in the proposal that the reform should wait on FCC proceedings. The proposal from 13 entities urges for status quo consideration of intrastate access charges and has been a source of contention for months, most recently in initial comments earlier this month (CD Jan 8 p7).

The Department of Energy (DOE) may largely adopt a CEA-developed standard for measuring the power consumption of set-top boxes during on, sleep and off modes, it said in a notice of proposed rulemaking, or NOPR in DOE-speak. The rulemaking notice said the CEA’s draft CEA-2043 standard, which is currently being developed by a working group at the trade association, would be the standard for measuring power consumption, with some modifications. It also proposed an annual energy consumption metric that combines proposed power consumption ratings with the amount of time boxes are expected to spend in various modes such as on, sleep and off. The notice excludes pay-TV network equipment.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said the committee will endeavor to craft cybersecurity legislation, address music royalty issues, reform the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) and reauthorize the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA), among other issues, outlining his key technology priorities at an event Tuesday hosted by the Advisory Committee to the Congressional Internet Caucus. The 10-term congressman began his term as Judiciary chairman this session after Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, reached his term limit last year.

If the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturns the FCC’s net neutrality rules, Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., will introduce legislation to clarify the authority of the agency to protect an open Internet, she said during a State of the Net address. In 2011, Verizon and MetroPCS sued the FCC, alleging it overstepped its regulatory authority in establishing net neutrality rules.

Advances in “big data” come at the expense of individual privacy, FTC Senior Policy Adviser Paul Ohm told the State of the Net conference Tuesday. While acknowledging the benefits of big data, it’s too early to have informed conversations and “the benefits tend to get overblown,” he said, citing Google’s flu-trends service. Google may be able to use search-term analysis to deduct which areas are suffering from the flu, but Google is not sharing that information with the Centers for Disease Control to make the information actionable, he continued.