The person who replaces Gen. Keith Alexander as National Security Agency director will also be commander of U.S. Cyber Command, the White House said Friday. “Following a thorough interagency review, the Administration has decided that keeping the positions of NSA director and Cyber Command commander together as one, dual-hatted position is the most effective approach to accomplishing both agencies’ missions,” a White House spokeswoman said in a statement. Alexander had lobbied for the same person to hold both positions. The head of U.S. Cyber Command must be in the military, but some critics have argued that a civilian should lead the NSA to provide more sensitivity on civil liberties issues after the leaks about controversial NSA surveillance programs. Retaining control of U.S. Cyber Command in the hands of the NSA director will also ensure NSA’s continued “unique role” in supporting U.S. Cyber Command through “critical support for target access and development, including linguists, analysts, cryptanalytic capabilities, and sophisticated technological infrastructure,” the White House spokeswoman said. “These capabilities are essential in enabling [Department of Defense] cyberspace operations planning and execution."

Parties will have more time to respond to the FCC further notice on inmate calling, said a Wireline Bureau order (http://fcc.us/19HSoVb). Comments in docket 12-376 will now be due Dec. 20, replies Jan 13. The bureau said it found “good cause” to grant the request by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction for a “modest time extension for all parties.” The Ohio DRC had argued the additional time would allow for “a more complete factual and legal record in this proceeding."

Wireless microphone maker Sennheiser said CTIA is wrong to oppose the company’s request that TV incentive auction winners be required to partially reimburse wireless mic users for the cost of replacing equipment made unusable by reallocation of the 600 MHz band. “At the outset, CTIA has mischaracterized the request,” the company said in a filing at the FCC (http://bit.ly/1dbItJR). “Sennheiser does not seek reimbursement to wireless microphone manufacturers, as CTIA states, but rather to wireless microphone users -- not only professional broadcasters, filmmakers, theaters, and concert promoters, but also churches, schools, community organizations, political groups, and countless others -- people who lack meaningful input to the Commission’s spectrum policies, yet stand to suffer financial damage from the reallocation.” Contrary to CTIA’s characterization, owners of wireless mics are not secondary users of the spectrum, Sennheiser said.

EchoStar is no longer pursuing a joint venture with Vivendi’s GVT, EchoStar said in a press release (http://bit.ly/19mP4m6). The partnership had been aimed at launching direct-to-home service in Brazil (CD Nov 14 p23).

Industry welcomed two video proposals introduced in the House Thursday, both expected. House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., introduced the Video Consumers Have Options In Choosing Entertainment Act, to address retransmission blackouts, with Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. And Reps. Steve Scalise, R-La., and Cory Gardner, R-Colo., introduced the Next Generation Television Marketplace Act. American Cable Association President Matthew Polka released a statement saying the Eshoo bill “will provide relief to consumers harmed by outdated retransmission consent rules that broadcasters’ [sic] relentlessly abuse, highlighted by a record number of TV signal blackouts and escalating price demands well in excess of inflation.” Public Knowledge praised Eshoo’s bill because it “puts forward a number of creative ideas that, if implemented, would move the video marketplace in a good direction,” Senior Staff Attorney John Bergmayer said in a statement. “Under the provisions of this bill, not only would viewers be protected from the effects of corporate contract disputes that black out channels from their TV lineups, but they would get more choice in what channels they subscribe to, and could see their monthly fees go down.” The Western Telecommunications Alliance also welcomed Eshoo’s bill, in a statement citing the high video programming prices rural video distributors face. The American Television Alliance, Dish and CenturyLink praised both bills. “While the bills reflect different approaches to reform, they show the ever-growing bipartisan support for immediate action to fix retransmission consent,” ATVA said. CenturyLink supports the efforts of all members behind the bills “to reform the 1992 Cable Act and to make sure consumers aren’t caught in the middle of video retransmission consent disputes,” it said. Dish Deputy General Counsel Jeff Blum pointed to different virtues of the bills, in his statements. The Scalise bill “recognizes that the video laws passed in 1992 no longer reflect the marketplace and are in dire need of reform,” he said. The Eshoo bill “proposes concrete legislative ideas to give consumers greater choice over their programming, tackles the growing problem of bundling of cable channels with network channels, and empowers the FCC with significant authority to curtail blackouts."

The FCC admonishment stands against the receiver of WHNR(AM) Cypress Gardens, Fla. (CD April 10 p23), said a Media Bureau decision Thursday (http://bit.ly/1aZYwI5). An April request of George Reed to nix the admonishment was dismissed, said the order, signed by Audio Division Chief Peter Doyle. Also, “the April Petition is based on facts that were in existence and known by Reed at the time of his last opportunity to present such matters,” wrote Doyle. Reed had been admonished for not giving the commission a copy of an order about such a transfer of control from a Florida court (CD July 5 p7).

A workshop to be convened by NTIA Friday on lessons learned from developing a process for sharing the 1755 MHz band will hopefully “produce ideas for even greater collaboration that can be incorporated into ongoing work across the Federal agencies,” said White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer Tom Power Thursday in a blog post. “Balancing the growing needs of both commercial and Federal spectrum users presents opportunities for increased efficiency and economic growth, but also poses challenges,” Power wrote (http://1.usa.gov/18odb53). “Commercial wireless providers must learn how to operate their systems in spectrum bands that will be shared by Federal agencies using that same spectrum for operations such as conducting military training exercises, maintaining air safety, or tracking criminal activity."

Amazon should release the identities and contact information of owners of video programs on its Instant Video service with closed captions that don’t comply with FCC rules for IP video, said Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in an FCC filing Wednesday (http://bit.ly/18EQZ1t). It’s the latest in a proceeding that began last year (CD April 19 p11) with a formal complaint against Amazon submitted by TDI and several other consumer groups over problems with Amazon’s IP closed captions. The FCC should “establish daily base forfeitures for subsequent violations of the rules by Amazon, and issue a forfeiture sufficiently large to make clear that non-compliance with the Commission’s rules is not simply an acceptable cost of doing business,” said TDI. Previous Amazon filings have blamed the captioning problems on the video programming owners (VPOs) which provide content on its streaming video service, but though that information was submitted to the FCC it was redacted from public documents, TDI said. “The Commission’s confidentiality measures are not intended to protect the identities of parties who violate their obligations to make their programming accessible from public scrutiny.” Amazon’s filings don’t provide the information required by a request for confidential treatment, and don’t explain how disclosing the information would harm Amazon, TDI said. It said the commission should “compel Amazon to reveal the identities of VPOs it believes to be responsible for violations of the Commission’s closed captioning” rules.

The “the unacceptable number of senior level vacancies” currently within the Department of Homeland Security are a “serious threat” to the department’s ability to complete its mission on issues that include cybersecurity, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told the House Homeland Security Committee Thursday. More than 40 percent of DHS’s senior leadership positions are vacant or are being filled by a temporary replacement. Nominees for some positions, including Homeland Security Secretary nominee Jeh Johnson, await confirmation in the Senate. The Senate could vote on Johnson’s nomination this week. Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said during the hearing that these vacancies “have a negative impact on mission effectiveness and employee morale.” The Government Accountability Office has found that morale is low across the agency’s departments. Morale within the National Protection and Programs Directorate, which leads DHS’s cybersecurity efforts, scored below the government-wide average, said David Maurer, GAO director-Homeland Security and Justice Issues. Ridge said the White House needs to “better anticipate” vacancies within DHS and vet possible candidates in a “thorough but timely manner,” while the Senate needs to consider nominees “in a timely manner” and not use the confirmation process for “political gamesmanship.” The hearing was a day after McCaul and committee ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., introduced the National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act (HR-3696), which would codify DHS’s existing collaboration efforts with the private sector, including information sharing regarding cyberthreats, but would not give the agency new powers. House Cybersecurity Subcommittee Chairman Pat Meehan, R-Pa., and subcommittee ranking member Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., were original cosponsors of the bill (http://1.usa.gov/1gthI9g).

The FCC should try out important rule changes in small-scale “policy sandboxes” before issuing decisions, incentivize efficient use of spectrum, and take steps to attract up-and-coming engineers, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel told the IEEE at its Global Communications Conference Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1gt0OYa). “What if instead of always relying on the big reveal, we set up small-scale policy experiments?” asked Rosenworcel. “What if we examined the effects of new rules before unleashing them all at once?” The commissioner pointed to experimental spectrum licenses as an area where the FCC is already encouraging trial phases for new ideas and said the concept might also expedite the authorization process for new radio equipment. “Because the number of devices in this process is expanding, our systems deserve an update to meet this demand,” said Rosenworcel. “By moving new devices through our approval process more quickly we can move them from sandbox to market much faster.” Small-scale policy experiments could also “kick-start” the IP transition, Rosenworcel said. “After all, big issues are at stake -- how to foster deployment, how to spur investment, and how to best serve consumers,” she said. The FCC should work with carriers to come up with location-specific and service-specific IP trials, she said. “Trying them out on a small scale just makes sense.” To increase the efficiency of spectrum, the FCC should hold a contest, with a prize of 10 MHz of mobile broadband spectrum to be awarded to the first person to make spectrum use below 5 GHz 50 times more efficient over the next decade, Rosenworcel said. “Think of it as [White House education incentive program] Race to the Top, the Spectrum Edition,” she said. The prize is worthwhile, because “if the winner can truly use spectrum 50 times more efficiently, they can make their 10 MHz do the work of 500 MHz,” she said. Rosenworcel also said the FCC could benefit from an influx of engineering talent. The commission should establish an engineering analog to its honors attorney program, she said. “By mixing young men -- and women -- with experienced engineers already on staff, the FCC could be better prepared to face the challenges of next generation communications networks,” said Rosenworcel.