The FCC would be “crazy” to subject cable operators to special access regulation under rules being examined by the agency, said NCTA Executive Vice President James Assey Monday at a Practising Law Institute seminar. The American Cable Association Friday questioned (see 1604080055) FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal to replace special access regulation with a new "technology-neutral framework."

Verizon and AT&T disagreed on whether the FCC should get rid of the nondiscrimination condition on telecommunications services between the U.S. and Cuba. The State Department had proposed exactly that step in light of the changing U.S.-Cuba relationship. Last month, President Barrack Obama made a two-day trip to the island nation.

AT&T and Univision extended the pause in their retransmission consent dispute, and access to the flagship Univision network and some other stations was to remain on U-verse, until 1 a.m. EDT Saturday, Univision said in a news release Friday. Univision's other remaining networks would remain unavailable, it said. Several short-term extensions have delayed the blackout (see 1603170045, 1603160051 and 1603080045).

The AT&T/Univision detente in their retransmission consent dispute, with access to the flagship Univision network and some other stations remaining on U-verse, was to extend until 1 a.m. Friday, Univision said in a news release Thursday. Univision's other remaining networks would remain unavailable, it said. Several short-term extensions have delayed the blackout (see 1603160051 and 1603080045).

AT&T and Univision were to continue the cease-fire in their retransmission consent dispute, with access to the Univision network and some other stations -- which was brought back onto U-verse for last week's Democratic presidential debate (see 1603080045) -- extended to 1 a.m. Thursday, Univision said in a news release Tuesday. Univision's other remaining networks would remain unavailable, it said.

The FCC proposal to reserve a vacant band for unlicensed use and displace many low-power TV stations after the incentive auction reverses decades of the commission's own policies, said a reply brief from LPTV broadcasters Free Access & Broadcast Telemedia, Mako Communications and Word of God filed Wednesday. It said LPTV broadcasters are caught in a “Catch-22” between the FCC's argument that a delayed auction will cause irreparable harm to the public interest and its claim that since LPTV broadcasters can't know they'll be displaced, no stay should be granted. The commission “inexplicably asserts that petitioners are at the same time too early and too late to seek interim relief from this Court,” the LPTV broadcasters said in a filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. "The FCC cannot have it both ways; its position is wrong and unsubstantiated.” The FCC argued in its brief opposing the requested stay that the auction is too close to pause without causing harm to many other broadcasters (see 1603150069).

AT&T and Univision were to continue the cease-fire in their retransmission consent dispute, with access to the Univision network and some other stations -- which was brought back onto U-verse for Wednesday's Democratic presidential debate (see 1603080045) -- extended through 1 a.m. Saturday, Univision said in a news release Thursday. Univision's other remaining networks will remain unavailable, it said.

Horse trading on the two-year FCC Reauthorization Act (S-2644) likely continued behind the scenes this week as Senate Commerce Committee Republicans sought to secure Democratic backing for the legislation, set for markup 10 a.m. Wednesday in 253 Russell. Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., pushed back against speculation that the item could be yanked from the markup agenda and raised the prospect of later marking up a priority bill for Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla. -- the Spoofing Prevention Act (S-2558).

Horse trading on the two-year FCC Reauthorization Act (S-2644) likely continued behind the scenes this week as Senate Commerce Committee Republicans sought to secure Democratic backing for the legislation, set for markup 10 a.m. Wednesday in 253 Russell. Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., pushed back against speculation that the item could be yanked from the markup agenda and raised the prospect of later marking up a priority bill for Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla. -- the Spoofing Prevention Act (S-2558).

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler faced many questions about his set-top box proposal during Wednesday's Senate Commerce Committee oversight hearing. Both committee leaders questioned the merits. But there was little rancor at the two-and-a-half-hour hearing, with much attention devoted to spectrum policy and relatively little to the agency’s net neutrality order.