The FCC suggested a “reverse clock” auction for broadcast spectrum, as part of the voluntary incentive auction, in a paper by auction experts at Auctionomics and Power Auctions. Like the rulemaking notice on the auction of TV stations’ frequencies, the agency also released the paper this week. Under the proposal, all broadcasters that want to sell their licenses may not be successful in doing so, as the FCC eliminates those who hold out for a higher price. Those that offer to sell but don’t will be subject to relocation. The lead author is auction expert Paul Milgrom, a professor of economics at Stanford University who was a key adviser to the agency on the design of the first spectrum auctions.

A court appeal of updated program carriage rules shows independent channels’ desire for continued FCC regulation of multichannel video programming distributor contracts remains in conflict with the goal of major cable operators that own networks to cut back on such rules. NCTA had joined Time Warner Cable’s challenge of a 2011 order letting commission staff authorize continued carriage of a channel that brought a complaint as it’s adjudicated. Bloomberg, NFL and the Tennis Channel are among owners of indies seeking to keep the rules. Judges Susan Carney, Denny Chin and Reena Raggi, of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, will hear oral argument on Thursday afternoon for 12 minutes from an FCC lawyer and from six apiece from Time Warner Cable and NCTA representatives in its 9th-floor courtroom (http://xrl.us/bnshpo).

Tennessee’s Lifeline discount is “an unfunded regulatory mandate,” AT&T Tennessee External and Legislative Affairs Manager Paul Stinson testified Tuesday before the Tennessee Regulatory Authority (http://xrl.us/bnsgv5). He called the state Lifeline program “outdated, inconsistent with state legislative reforms, anti-competitive and discriminatory” and said it’s “irrelevant to consumers who now have free wireless Lifeline alternatives.” Tennessee telcos, including AT&T, CenturyLink, TDS Telecom and Frontier, have been arguing to end the state Lifeline credit altogether in an industry coalition that formed earlier this year. Twenty-one other states have their own Lifeline programs, said NARUC’s National Regulatory Research Institute July report (http://xrl.us/bnky6q).

The “on-the-ground” reality of revising the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) is more mundane than many press reports indicate, but there are still plenty of proposals the U.S. remains concerned about, said Kathryn O'Brien, FCC assistant International Bureau chief. ITU members are to revise the ITRs at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), which begins Dec. 3 in Dubai. “You may have seen some references in the press to this U.N. conference in Dubai in December, and concerns about the U.N. ’taking over the Internet,'” O'Brien said Wednesday at a Federal Communications Bar Association forum. “There is no sort of U.N. takeover of Internet governance, the specific functions of [the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)] at this particular conference. … But there are still huge, huge areas in this conference for the U.S., for the government and private sector, to worry about."

SAN FRANCISCO -- Movie studios and the MPAA will begin promoting UltraViolet more soon, Chris Dodd, MPAA chairman, and Mitch Singer, Sony Pictures Entertainment’s chief technology officer and president of the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, told reporters Tuesday after an event at the Commonwealth Club. “It’s been under a year since we launched and we have over 5 million registered users already,” Singer said. “There’s been very little promotion and advertising by the studios and that’s going to happen very soon,” he said.

Deutsche Telekom said in an ad hoc notification Tuesday it’s in talks with MetroPCS executives, aimed at combining the smaller, prepaid carrier with T-Mobile USA. Rumors of a deal between the two carriers swirled in May, and analysts said then (CD May 10 p9) the transaction would likely face few regulatory hurdles. A MetroPCS/Leap Wireless combination has long been rumored as well.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Timing, funding and capabilities will determine if the FirstNet is a success, panelists at the PCIA show said Tuesday. FirstNet’s proposed network has the potential to be “groundbreaking,” said Chief Counsel Jeffrey Cohen representing the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials. Other panelists said the network will have to overcome several hurdles. While the FirstNet board said last week that it could begin deploying the service as early as 2013, some panelists raised doubts that it could be effectively deployed before 2014.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- More spectrum is essential to meet growing consumer demand, but inefficient management by federal regulators, including the slow approval process of Dish Network’s proposed new wireless network, is keeping infrastructure lagging behind demand, panelists at the PCIA show said Tuesday. “The technology is ahead of the regulations,” said Associate General Counsel Edward Roach of SBA Communications. Several panelists said both consumers and the market will benefit from Dish’s spectrum, including lawyer Alison Minea of Dish. “We're new to this, but we see a lot of opportunity for the S-band, so stay tuned,” she said.

NTIA acknowledged that a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work for sharing federal spectrum with commercial users, in a document released this week responding to recommendations by a Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee working group. The NTIA response is slated for discussion at the CSMAC meeting Thursday, the group’s last of the year. In May, NTIA instructed the CSMAC to refocus on sharing between commercial and federal users in the 1695-1710 MHz and 1755-1850 MHz bands (CD May 31 p1).

The FCC proposed a $5 million fine against NobelTel for deceptively marketing its prepaid calling cards to consumers. The commission said NobelTel violated its rules against “unfair and deceptive” marketing practices by offering cards promising hundreds of minutes of international calls that, in practice, could be depleted after just a few minutes (http://xrl.us/bnscpn). NobelTel did not respond to our requests for comment. The American PrePaid Phonecall Association (APPPA), of which NobelTel is a member, defended the company and warned of litigation to challenge the forfeitures.