TORONTO -- Despite new efforts by federal TV regulators to jump-start Canada’s digital TV transition, a growing number of industry experts are questioning the likelihood that the government’s Aug. 31, 2011, deadline for making the switchover from analog in larger markets will be met.

GENEVA -- U.N. agencies set up a broadband commission including FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to spur the rollout of high-speed Internet access to reduce poverty and disease and to aid primary education, officials said. The commission of business, government and U.N. leaders aims to harness information and communications technology (ICT) to drive the global development agenda and help reach the Millennium Development Goals.

The 700 MHz band “has reached a crucial juncture,” and the FCC needs to impose rules requiring that handsets operate across multiple parts of the band, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, MetroPCS and other carriers said in a paper filed at the commission by Wireless Strategies. The paper said support of a common band for the upper 700 MHz blocks won’t lead to interference issues that the FCC will have to address later.

As Cox Communications rolls out a new “Trio” interactive program guide (IPG)designed to tie together search of linear, on-demand and broadband content, it will continue to seek to have CE manufacturers deploy it in products, the company said. The IPG, which Cox jointly developed with NDS during the past two years, will be deployed in Cisco 8642 tru2way set-top and 1642 client boxes starting in two markets this month and expanding system-wide by year end, said Steve Necessary, vice president of video product development and support. Trio will replace Rovi’s Passport and Cisco’s Sara IPG in digital boxes. Rovi also is unveiling a version of its TotalGuide targeting cable operators at the NCTA convention in Los Angeles this week.

HyperCube contested as erroneous a state administrative law judge’s proposed decision on its conflict with Level 3 Communications. The challenge came in a Thursday filing by HyperCube to the California Public Utility Commission. In May 2009 the competitive local exchange carrier filed a complaint with the state regulator over what the company alleges to be Level 3’s unlawful refusal to pay about $5.5 million for tariffed access services and late charges levied by HyperCube. The charges arose in connection with Level 3’s provision of toll-free calls that originate and terminate in California. Level 3 has been boycotting the charges for years on grounds that the CLEC illegitimately is inserting itself into Level 3’s business. The proposed decision was issued April 16 (CD Apr 21 p9).

Ireland’s High Court cleared the way for a constitutional attack on EU Internet and telephony traffic data-storage rules, saying Wednesday that Digital Rights Ireland can pursue a challenge to national law in the European Court of Justice on the grounds that the data retention directive violates fundamental rights. The move, which follows decisions against data retention in Germany and Romania, has implications for data storage across Europe, said DRI Chairman TJ McIntyre. Meanwhile, a preliminary European Commission assessment of the directive shows wide divergence among national laws, and concerns from civil society and telecom providers.

STANFORD, Calif. -- The handling of mobile location information in a new draft bill by Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., was the hot button issue in a privacy discussion last week at the Legal Frontiers in Digital Media conference. President Pam Horan of the Online Publishers Association expressed qualms about a provision that information about a person’s precise location be treated as sensitive information subject to a requirement of express opt-in. She called the data crucial to location-based services. Precise location information “adds a ton of great value” to ads, agreed Matthew Carr, general manager of Microsoft Advertising. Targeted ads “could be the final blow” to newspaper circulars, he said. But “we won’t get out of the gate on this” if the use and privacy of data aren’t handled properly, Carr said.

In its response to the FCC inquiry, PBS said increased funding, reformed copyright laws and amendments to corporate underwriting rules will be key to creating a robust public media future in the digital age. “While the [1976 Public Broadcasting Act] may be a product of the analog era, its intent is timeless. … In a time when citizens have an unprecedented number of options for news, information, and entertainment, PBS and public media are needed now more than ever,” PBS told the FCC.

Limited writing by Elena Kagan, nominated Monday to the Supreme Court, about telecommunications, media and intellectual property law means there are few clues about how she would deal with these matters as a justice, lawyers said Monday. “There really isn’t much out there, and most of her articles are descriptive,” said Marvin Ammori, professor at University of Nebraska College of Law. “She discusses different ideas, versus arguing ‘here are the outcomes that should be achieved.’ You can’t really pin her down on which cases she approves of and which cases she doesn’t."

The Wi-Fi Alliance and the Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig Alliance) will cooperate on multi-gigabit networking in the unlicensed 60 GHz band, Bruce Montag of Dell, a member of the WiGig Alliance board, said in an interview. New specifications developed would allow for data transfer at speeds of 7 Gbps or more, 10 times as fast as the fastest 802.11n Wi-Fi, he said.