The FCC’s Open Internet Advisory Committee got an impromptu pep talk by Chairman Julius Genachowski on what the group should strive to accomplish. “I think that if in two years this group can look back and say the Internet remains free and open; that incentives for innovation and investment are strong throughout the broadband ecosystem; that early stage entrepreneurs and startups know that if they get on the Internet they can reach an audience; that infrastructure companies know that they have incentives to invest and get a return on their investment; that speakers know that if they speak on the Internet they can reach an audience -- if we can say all of those things in two years, then this will have been a success,” Genachowski said.

Two high-profile pay-TV carriage disputes ended late last week. Time Warner Cable and Hearst Television agreed to a retransmission consent contract Thursday night and DirecTV and Viacom announced a carriage agreement early Friday. The FCC stayed uninvolved during both terrestrial programming blackouts, which the agency can have authority over if it finds there’s not good faith during negotiations (CD July 13 p2), industry and agency officials said. That’s in keeping with standard practice under Chairman Julius Genachowski. The Media Bureau continued getting updates from Hearst and Time Warner Cable during their retrans contract impasse, an industry official said. A bureau spokesman had no comment.

The FCC looked back at four years of data through June 30, 2010, in the market for multichannel video programming distribution services, and where possible, updated the information and regulatory and litigation developments. Friday’s release of the 14th MVPD competition report to Congress, meant under the 1996 Telecom Act an annual exercise, included four years of data to partly catch the agency up. The report noted as expected that online video distributors (CD July 10 p3) have cropped up in recent years to give MVPD customers other options. A notice of inquiry for the next report seeks data as of June 30 this year and last on MVPDs, OVDs and TV stations, the three major groups covered in the new document.

Critics of the revised Senate cybersecurity bill pounced on what they called suspicious regulatory loopholes that allow the government to mandate cybersecurity regulations on critical infrastructure providers. The Senate’s last-ditch effort to reach a compromise on a comprehensive cybersecurity bill was backed by a bipartisan group of senators and President Barack Obama (http://xrl.us/bnhjpy).

The increasing demand for broadband capacity and the need for technologies to expand into the mobile space has created an overlapping of fixed satellite and mobile satellite services, some satellite executives said. While the demand for a shared service is growing, the difference between FSS and MSS services won’t be completely blurred, they said.

Current rules are working and there is no need for the government to make changes, Sprint Nextel, the Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition (FWCC) and Clearwire told the FCC in separate filings in response to a June Wireless Bureau public notice (http://xrl.us/bncgh9), asking about the “rejection rate” on requests for common carrier use of spectrum in the 11 GHz, 18 GHz and 23 GHz bands. The FCC was required to make the inquiry and report to Congress by the spectrum law enacted in February. Sixteen years ago, the FCC consolidated its rules for most microwave point-to-point and point-to-multipoint services into a new Part 101 of the commission’s rules.

Looking for ways to counter the rapidly rising popularity of over-the-top (OTT) Internet video has cable, DBS and telco multichannel video programming distributors bolstering fledgling multi-screen video services. The additional bells and whistles include more VOD programming, mobile apps and customized features. AT&T, Comcast and Verizon have most recently added new features to their TV Everywhere offerings. So-called video cord-cutting and cord-shaving are growing threats to MVPDs and programmers, executives said in interviews. They said they're unsure whether the new multi-screen video moves will ward off the competitive threats or generate more revenue for the industry.

Broadband customers are getting what they pay for, and they're getting it faster, a new report said. That’s the big takeaway from this year’s “Measuring Broadband America” report. It was released Thursday by the FCC Wireline Bureau using data gathered by contractor SamKnows in collaboration with ISPs with more than 80 percent of U.S. residential broadband subscribers. The report (http://xrl.us/bnhgkk) said broadband providers have significantly improved accuracy in actual versus advertised speeds during the past year, with speeds during peak times rising 9 percentage points to 96 percent of what companies marketed, and consumers are continuing to subscribe to ever-faster speed tiers.

911 calling problems were widespread in the wake of the derecho that hit the Midwest and East Coast June 29, Public Safety Bureau Chief David Turetsky said in a report Thursday at the FCC meeting. The agency sought comment on communications breakdowns Wednesday (CD July 19 p15). Turetsky said 911 problems hit parts of country beyond the already well-publicized incidents in northern Virginia. Chairman Julius Genachowski said the FCC will revisit the issue of backup power for telecom facilities.

A series of larger-than-normal transactions involving broadcast and cable assets reveal a healthy market for raising debt and some faith that the media sector is healthy and profitable, said executives we spoke to Thursday. The last few days have seen deals disclosed involving media assets valued at more than $8 billion. They included several transactions that involved the former Clear Channel TV station group, Atlantic Broadband’s acquisition by a Canadian cable operator and Suddenlink’s $6.6 billion acquisition by BC Partners and CCP Investment Board.