The satellite industry has grown over the past year due in part to HD availability and international demand, satellite professionals said Monday at the Satellite 2012 conference. The marketplace is expected to expand, but budget cuts in some sectors and the blurring of mobile satellite service (MSS) and fixed satellite service (FSS) could cause a lull, some experts said.

Hundreds of different types of receivers are in use today, with different characteristics, and developing receiver standards won’t be easy, Julius Knapp, chief of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, said at the start of a two-day FCC workshop Monday. NTIA Associate Administrator Karl Nebbia said receiver standards will become a critical issue if the U.S. wants to avoid the expected spectrum crunch.

The FCC’s proposed methodology for setting an upper limit of high-cost loop support paid to incumbent rate-of-return LECs is fundamentally sound, but needs additional analysis of specific implementation issues, said two economists asked by the Wireline Bureau to do peer reviews (http://xrl.us/bmxvwu). The Universal Service Fund/intercarrier compensation order adopted a rule to limit reimbursable capital and operations expenses relative to a LEC’s “similarly situated” peers.

Discrepancies in how the FCC handles evidence in program carriage cases ought to be resolved by remanding an independent programmer’s failed complaint against four major cable operators to the agency, the indie said. WealthTV said the commission in last year’s order finding against its complaint against Bright House Networks, Comcast, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable should have found those defendants had the burden of proof and not the plaintiff. The appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cited various recommendations in recent years by administrative law judges in other cases and by the Media Bureau. Many were not approved by the full agency.

FCC cancellation of LightSquared’s ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) authorization won’t be the end of the LightSquared saga, said Executive Vice President Jeff Carlisle, speaking at the Satellite 2012 conference Monday. The FCC has proposed pulling LightSquared’s ATC authorization and an associated waiver that would have allowed the company to sell terrestrial service without including satellite component. Comments on the proposals are due Friday.

FCC nominees’ chances of Senate confirmation remain uncertain even if Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, lifts his hold on confirmation of Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel, communications industry lobbyists said. A House Commerce Committee request for LightSquared documents from the FCC could appease Grassley, but political dynamics in the Senate may still stand in the way of confirming new commissioners, they said. Top House Commerce members indicated last week that the committee would share with Grassley.

Interests of cable operators and the Big Four broadcast TV networks aligned in what some called a rarity late last week. The owners of the ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC networks backed encryption of cable’s basic programming tier (CD March 2 p4) that includes signals of their affiliates by all-digital cable systems. It’s the first time cable programmers have directly weighed in on an FCC rulemaking proposing to let operators scramble basic channels to cut down on signal theft of unencrypted signals and let companies turn on and off service without technician visits to subscribers. The most vociferous consumer electronics manufacturer against encryption continued to oppose it: Boxee said broadcasters added no new reasons for the commission to act.

Cable rates increased at a rate higher than inflation again in 2009, an FCC survey of cable operator prices during that year found. Basic cable rates increased at a higher rate than rates for expanded tier service, the survey found. On a per-channel basis, rates didn’t increase as quickly.

The question of if the FCC should make all TV stations put political ad information on the commission’s website (CD March 2 p7) changed focus at least briefly to shine on another agency. The question is if 2002 campaign finance legislation solely makes the Federal Election Commission the place for such disclosure, or whether the FCC also has a role. The NAB said the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) doesn’t give the FCC authority to implement the FCC proposal to move political-ad files and much of the rest of public-inspection files from TV stations’ main studios to the Internet. A longtime advocate for such disclosure said the BCRA -- often referred to as the McCain-Feingold bill after its main sponsors -- doesn’t preclude the commission from acting, and few details about political TV spots are available in FEC filings.

Broadcasters haven’t seen the last of a Democratic amendment requiring more disclosure regarding political ads. House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., said in an interview Friday that she plans to offer it again when FCC reform legislation (HR-3309) reaches the House floor. Broadcasters oppose the amendment due to liability concerns, and separately have been opposing proposed FCC rules to require all TV stations’ political-ad files to go online. (See separate report in this issue.)