The author of the Senate cybersecurity bill, Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., told us Tuesday he “was open” to giving the National Security Agency more authority to monitor U.S. networks for cybersecurity threats. “I gather from the articles I've seen that the proposal was for the NSA to do this in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security, which is the model that we've created in the bill. My mind is open to it."

New numbers compiled by UBS show what could be a troublesome trend for the FCC, with Verizon Wireless and AT&T continuing strong subscriber growth, as Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile fall further behind. The numbers, gathered from the most recent company reports, come as the FCC prepares the 2012 version of the Wireless Competition Report. The agency is also likely to consider rules that could potentially limit Verizon and AT&T participation in upcoming spectrum auctions, including the eventual voluntary incentive auction of broadcast spectrum.

Getting more spectrum is MetroPCS’s “number one priority,” but the company is hopeful the FCC will make more available starting this year, Chief Financial Officer Braxton Carter said Tuesday at the Deutsche Bank conference. “We believe that incentive auctions will be a reality,” he said. “One of the issues is that’s going to take a little longer to develop and the timeline on that is not particularly optimal."

Six major TV programmers and movie studios opposed Comcast’s request (CD Feb 22 p4) to change the types of people who can read programming contracts that online video distributors seeking access to shows from the cable operator and NBCUniversal struck. CBS, Disney, News Corp., Sony Pictures, Time Warner and Viacom opposed a Feb. 17 request by Comcast to change the confidentiality provisions of the benchmarking provision for OVDs in the FCC order approving the combination of the cable and broadcast networks. Comcast/NBCU said the inability for its executives and in-house lawyers to see OVDs’ deals with other broadcast, cable and film content owners “made it impossible for NBCUniversal to make progress in good faith negotiations with OVDs seeking to invoke the Benchmark Condition.”

Sky Angel petitioned a federal appeals court for a writ of mandamus, its latest step in long-lingering program access dispute against Discovery Communications. IPTV distributor Sky Angel complained to the FCC in March 2010 that Discovery had withdrawn its distribution agreement over concerns with Sky Angel’s distribution technology. Outside of a June 2010 order from the Media Bureau denying Sky Angel’s standstill petition, the FCC hasn’t acted on the complaint. A writ of mandamus, considered a judicial rarity, would require the FCC to issue a final order one way or the other. An FCC spokesman declined to comment.

LightSquared’s failure to satisfy the FCC’s requirements for the company to begin terrestrial service makes LightSquared’s request for a declaratory ruling moot, said Deere in comments at the FCC on the request (http://xrl.us/bmwc3o). LightSquared asked the agency to issue a declaratory ruling spelling out the legal protections afforded to GPS. That request was made before the FCC proposed to pull LightSquared’s terrestrial authorization, which means it’s unnecessary for the FCC to take up the issue, said Deere. Other filers urged the FCC to wait for a Comptroller General receivers report before taking on receiver standards.

A key definition within the new spectrum law has raised questions among communications lawyers about possible drafting errors and/or congressional intent, the lawyers said. The concerns are with the definition within the bill of “reverse auction,” which seemed to limit the authority to only broadcast spectrum, said the lawyers. The confusion is largely due to a misunderstanding of legislation and the bill is meant to allow FCC interpretation, said House and Senate aides.

Depending on who you listen to, FCC regulation of interconnection agreements between IP networks is either crucial to the future of telecommunications, or is the latest example of government overreach in an Internet-based industry that has flourished at the hand of private deals. In comments filed Friday, carriers large and small tried to sway the commission on what’s best for the public interest.

Sprint Nextel’s decision not to buy MetroPCS, news of which broke late Friday, had few regulatory implications. None of the analysts looking at the deal mentioned potential regulatory complications. When Sprint announced a merger agreement with Nextel in late 2004, then-FCC Chairman Michael Powell all but welcomed the deal, projecting the new company to be an enhanced rival of Verizon Wireless and AT&T, then Cingular. Potentially more concerning for the FCC this time around is the extent to which Sprint has emerged as a wounded warrior after it led the fight to beat back AT&T’s buy of T-Mobile last year.

Retransmission consent fees aren’t being used by TV stations to fund local content, according to research by academics, including some funded by foes of the current retrans system, several professors said Monday. The 1992 Cable Act authorizing retrans payments to broadcasters by multichannel video programming distributors was meant to preserve and promote local programming, said Prof. Philip Napoli of Fordham University. There’s a “body of literature” showing that’s not now happening, he said at an event on Capitol Hill organized by the American TV Coalition, a group of MVPDs and nonprofits seeking to change FCC retrans rules. The NAB responded that TV stations are producing more and not less news.