A Senate resolution (SJ Res 28) disapproving an FCC media cross ownership rule is headed to the Senate floor under expedited rules, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., told reporters Thursday. Unanimously passed at a Senate Commerce Committee markup, the resolution has enough support to pass the Senate, but may not be able to survive a promised presidential veto, Dorgan said.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The mobile industry must begin with a largely blank slate in marketing to its next billion customers, who live in the developing world, said Nokia Chief Technology Officer Bob Ianucci. And the industry must start thinking through the software possibilities created by the network’s knowing a subscriber’s location at all times, he added. The cellphone revolution resembles the development pattern of mainframes, minicomputers and PCs -- but mobile must scale up to handle unprecedented amounts of data, provide new levels of personalization and simplicity of use and supply compatibility across the world’s networks, he said. Ianucci spoke Tuesday in a keynote at the Mobile Future conference organized by Carnegie Mellon University and the business school at the University of California, Berkeley.

The Telecommunications Industry Association said Friday it will challenge the FCC’s failure to let wireless carriers recover their costs for installing systems for sending emergency alerts to subscribers. TIA said it supports in general the FCC’s commercial mobile alert system order, which the commissioners approved Wednesday. “TIA continues to believe that CMAS providers should be able to recoup CMAS development costs, and we will seek regulatory or legislative clarification that such costs can in fact be recovered for offering this valuable public service,” TIA said. The group reiterated arguments in a filing that testing of the service shouldn’t include sending test messages to subscribers. “These test messages would unnecessarily strain network resources and potentially alarm and confuse recipients,” TIA said in a February FCC filing. Chris Guttman-McCabe, CTIA vice president of regulatory affairs, said Friday the group is reviewing the order. “It is clear that any sensible emergency alerting solution must take into account both the massive investment in place today and the technological developments that propel the wireless industry in the future,” he said.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau scheduled a summit for May 19 to examine emergency alert system issues. More details are to follow. The bureau said the focus will be “the current state of the nation’s EAS and what is needed to transition to a more robust, Next Generation alert and warning system to help ensure that all citizens receive accurate and timely information during emergencies.”

Problems finding a federal body to be the gatekeeper for emergency alerts to cellphones and other wireless devices may derail a warning program before it begins, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps warned. Copps criticized as “disheartening” a Federal Emergency Management Agency refusal to be gatekeeper (CD Feb 22 p1). FEMA participated in the Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee that drafted the alert rules.

The Senate Commerce Committee asked the FCC and NTIA to work together to submit monthly status reports on the digital transition. At an oversight hearing Tuesday, Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, said the reports should summarize activities and “challenges” the agencies face. “I have deep reservations about the FCC spending its limited time and resources in media areas unrelated to the transition,” Inouye said.

The FCC hasn’t suspended an inquiry into complaints that Comcast blocked peer-to-peer file transfers via BitTorrent, said four agency officials. A Thursday settlement between the cable operator and the P2P content distribution Web company hasn’t prompted Chairman Kevin Martin’s office to tell other commissioners of any changes to the inquiry, said agency officials. “The complaint against Comcast is pending,” said an FCC spokesman. “We are following that complaint as we do any other.” But Commissioner Robert McDowell said the settlement “obviates the need for any further government intrusion into this matter.”

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (D) signed a 911 bill creating an emergency alert system advisory committee to review and update state plans for warning people of widespread hazards and emergencies, and make recommendations on how to ensure alerts reach all Indianans. HB-1204 requires VoIP providers to collect E-911 fees. It creates a body to study the pros and cons of consolidating current state and local 911 fees into one statewide fee applied equally to all forms of two-way voice telecommunications. A report is due Dec. 1. The law requires counties having more that two 911 public safety answering points (PSAPs) to reduce the number to two by the end of 2014. It bars counties with just one PSAP now from establishing more. Counties with excess PSAPs may not raise local 911 fees until excess PSAPs are gone. The law calls for an audit of state and local spending since 2005 to implement wireless E-911. Daniels signed another telecom bill (HB-1159) creating a committee to study whether and how creation of a statewide 211 human services referral number will improve public access to human service agencies. The report is due Dec. 1.

AT&T’s U-Verse pay-TV service was excused from following FCC emergency alert system rules, in an order issued Wednesday by the Public Safety Bureau. The new rules took effect Dec. 3 and require AT&T, Verizon and other wireline companies selling subscription TV to pass along EAS warnings to video subscribers. But AT&T told the commission Nov. 14 it wouldn’t be able to do so until July 31 because the company was upgrading the Internet Protocol service. Bureau Chief Derek Poarch granted AT&T’s request. “Given the important role that EAS serves in the nation’s public safety awareness and response, we emphasize that, based on the detailed and specific assurances made by AT&T in its waiver petition, we will not look favorably upon any future request for additional” delay, he wrote. Poarch conditioned the waiver on AT&T telling subscribers about the limits of its emergency notifications. By March 31, the company must be able to send alerts to its super hub office for all standard definition and 1080 interlace high definition national channels. By July 31, AT&T must be able to transmit alerts to all video hub offices in every city where U-Verse is sold, said the order. If AT&T fails to meet its benchmarks, the order said, “the Bureau will consider all appropriate action, including recommendations regarding enforcement.”

NTelos Media asked the FCC to let it out of Emergency Alert System obligations until year-end, saying software it uses to offer IPTV services still can’t handle the duties. NTelos planned to have an EAS compatible version of Microsoft IPTV software it buys from Alcatel-Lucent installed by April 1, but learned recently from vendors that it’s behind AT&T in line for the upgrade. That could mean months, the company said. “It is unrealistic to think that a company as small as NTelos with limited technical resources and a small number of IPTV customers can expedite this upgrade if AT&T has failed to do so,” it said.