FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and key staffers developing the National Broadband Plan will provide a briefing that’s expected to last four hours or longer at the Sept. 29 meeting, we've learned. The review of the plan is modeled on updates during projects by consultant firms such as McKinsey & Co. Leaders of the commission’s broadband team are expected to speak during the briefing. A number of recent top FCC hires came directly from McKinsey, which also employs former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, who was Genachowski’s boss at the commission.

The World Meteorological Organization is increasingly concerned about possible allocations to the mobile satellite service at the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC), said Philippe Tristant, chairman of the organization’s Steering Group on Radio Frequency Coordination. Participants in an ITU-R satellite group have made a short list of nine frequency bands for study, he told us in the hallway during a joint seminar with ITU on spectrum use. New WMO concerns have arisen about frequencies at 7.6 GHz, used for passive sensing over oceans, and between 10.6 and 10.7 GHz, which are used as a passive band for Earth observation, Tristant said. The bands’ physical properties make them most suitable for certain measurements, which with readings from other bands, spur accuracy, Tristant said. The WMO is also very concerned about 7.8 GHz, which is used as a downlink by meteorological satellites to many earth stations, Tristant said. Mobile satellite is considering using the band for uplink, he said. Earlier this month, the ITU-R group identified for study for possible allocation to mobile satellite service at the WRC, 4.4 to 4.5 GHz, 4.8 to 4.99 GHz, 5.15 to 5.25 GHz, 7.055 to 7.25 GHz, 8.4 to 8.5 GHz, 10.5 to 10.6 GHz, 13.25 to 13.4 GHz and 14.8 to 15.35 GHz. The WMO’s preliminary positions have been updated, but aren’t yet approved, Tristant said (CD Oct 15/08 p6).

The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) wants to ensure spectrum, technical and regulatory protection for broadcasting reception, coverage and future growth, it said in preliminary views on World Radiocommunication Conference preparations. The conference will study sharing between incumbent broadcasting and mobile services in case they're introduced in the 790 and 862 MHz band in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and former Soviet countries. The union may want to use the bands for boosting services, 3-DTV and applications such as wireless microphones. More studies will be required, the union said, referring to DVB T2, DVB-H, ISDB-T, MediaFlo and mobile services WiMAX and variants of International Mobile Telecommunications, which is commonly referred to as 3G or 4G. The ABU opposed using the band for cognitive radio systems, software defined radio and short- range devices in UHF broadcasting white spaces. “The ABU believes that studies and appropriate regulatory guidelines for such use are not mature at this time and will not be at least until the WRC-12.” The ABU urged “national regulators not to assign UHF bands below 806 MHz to new IMT services until the ITU-R studies are completed and necessary sharing conditions, criteria and protection margin for both broadcasting and mobile services are available to guide the regulators in their detailed national planning work.”

The International Trade Administration is initiating an antidumping duty changed circumstances review of pressure sensitive plastic tape from Italy.

Activision Blizzard will release a version of Guitar Hero that is “untethered,” not connected to a console, at an unspecified time, CEO Robert Kotick told the Deutsche Bank Securities Technology Conference. “I think it’s just a question of time where you'll see” the TV as an “additional delivery platform” aside from the consoles, he predicted. An untethered version of Guitar Hero could provide Activision Blizzard with “leverage” from the console makers on downloadable content and the overall business model, he said. “You should expect to see many of our products will be playable” on a TV “independent of a console,” he said. Also, he said, third-party publishers are “usually … given about 24 months of visibility before you see a new hardware launch,” and Activision Blizzard had not “seen any specs, we haven’t seen any white papers” and had yet to be “consulted” about new console “designs.” But Kotick guessed that Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony are “working on new things” in the console space, at least on a preliminary basis.

The International Trade Administration has issued the final results of its antidumping duty administrative review of certain frozen warmwater shrimp from Thailand for the period of February 1, 2007 through January 31, 2008.

The International Trade Administration has issued the preliminary results of a countervailing duty changed circumstances review of certain pasta from Turkey.

Control4 expects to expand sales of its home automation products to 50 Best Buy stores, from 13, with the addition of outlets in Delaware and New Jersey, said John Yoon, Control4 vice president of education. Best Buy did a test last year in its Magnolia departments, selling Control4 remotes, thermostats, keypads, touch screens and lighting controls through stores in Atlanta, Houston and Raleigh- Durham, N.C., he said. Control4 provides training for Magnolia to install the products, Yoon said. Best Buy officials weren’t available for comment. In selling Control4 products, Best Buy “has some interesting challenges, but some advantages,” Yoon said. “They can come to your home and do whole-home automation. The installers come in and they can program just about anything.” Best Buy Venture Capital was among those participating in a funding round earlier this year in which Control4 raised $17.3 million for a new division creating systems for monitoring and controlling home energy use. In addition to Best Buy, Frazier Technology Partners, Thomas Weisel Venture Partners and vSpring Capital also provided funding, Control4 said. Control4 Energy Group is developing a $200 “Energy Controller” -- a wireless thermostat that’s linked to a gateway device that communicates with smart meters, Yoon said. The device, which contains a five-inch LCD, will first be distributed in early 2010 through electric utilities, Yoon said. The utilities will likely provide a subsidy so the controller can be offered free to customers, Control4 officials said. Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative, which has 84,000 members between Austin and Houston, Texas, signed on recently to carry the device. Control4 also has been testing its systems energy management capabilities with Xcel Energy’s SmartGridCity project in Denver, Yoon said. The project involves the utility sending commands to cut lights and air conditioners during peak demand times. Control4 also is in tests with other utilities that Yoon declined to identify. The company’s systems are designed to operate with two-way smart meters that use ZigBee to send and receive data into homes. Control4 also is studying ways to connect a utility with a homeowner via broadband and announced an agreement with the Z-Wave Alliance at CEDIA. Control4 sells its home automation products through about 1,400 dealers, including many CEDIA-type installers, who also will likely offer the energy controller, he said. Meanwhile, Control4 kicked off plans for a third party software driver and application developer program for its operating system with a preliminary meeting at CEDIA on Saturday, Yoon said. Control4 will conduct beta tests in the next few weeks of a 2.0 version of its OS with a goal of releasing it by year-end. It plans to have a software developers conference in February in Salt Lake City, he said. Control4 developed several software applications internally for its OS including Yahoo news feeds, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and OpenTable. Control4 will charge an application fee and certify the programs, Yoon said. Many applications will likely be free, but some may charge $5, he said. Control4 introduced a similar developer program for hardware two years ago that produced some products including a Black & Decker lock, Yoon said.

The International Trade Administration has issued the final results of its antidumping duty administrative review of certain frozen warmwater shrimp from Vietnam for the period of February 1, 2007 through January 31, 2008.

The International Trade Administration has made a preliminary affirmative determination that countervailable subsidies are being provided to producers and exporters of certain oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from China.