The Inmarsat-5 satellite sent initial signals from orbit, Boeing said Monday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1breLhh). “After reaching final orbit, it will complete several additional maneuvers and tests before officially beginning service for Inmarsat.” The Boeing-built satellite launched Sunday from Kazakhstan on an International Launch Services rocket, it said. The satellite is the first to launch for Inmarsat’s forthcoming Ka-band network (CD Dec 4 p16).

Verizon FiOS, Bright House Networks and Verizon DSL had slight increases in Netflix speeds in November, said the online video distributor’s monthly speed index (http://nflx.it/1fdy6Ya). The OVD said Google Fiber, Cablevision Optimum, Cox Communications, Suddenlink and Charter Communications remained at the top of the list, followed by Verizon FiOS at 2.2 Mbps. Time Warner Cable and Comcast had slight decreases at 2.07 Mbps and 1.82 Mbps respectively, it said. Bright House had an increases to 1.91 Mbps and Verizon DSL to 1.23 Mbps, said Netflix. AT&T DSL slipped to 1.2 Mbps, said the speed index. It’s based on data from more than 40 million Netflix subscribers who watch more than 1 billion hours of TV shows and movies streaming from the OVD each month.

Correction: The extra layer of copyright protection the World Intellectual Property Organization broadcast treaty will create is for content that already is protected where applicable, said Knowledge Ecology International Geneva Representative Thiru Balasubramaniam (CD Dec 9 p9).

The Anti-Spoofing Act proposes amending the Communications Act to “expand and clarify the prohibition on provision of inaccurate caller identification information,” according to its text. Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., introduced HR-3670 last week, and it was referred to the House Commerce Committee. She has two House Commerce co-sponsors: Joe Barton, R-Texas, and Leonard Lance, R-N.J. Meng is not a member of House Commerce.

Smartphones, tablets and e-readers can now be switched on in “flight mode” throughout an entire airline journey without a risk to safety, said the European Commission Monday. Updated guidance from the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) allows, for the first time, the use of personal electronic devices in flight mode from gate to gate, the EC said. This is the first step toward safe expansion of the use of in-flight electronics during taxiing, take-off and landing, said Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas. The next step will be to look at how to connect to the network on-board, he said. He asked EASA to speed up its review of the safe use of transmitting devices on planes, with new guidance expected within the next year. It’s up to each airline to update its operating rules, the EC said. In the U.S., the FCC is to vote Thursday on an rulemaking that would allow airlines to authorize cellphones to be used during flights (CD Nov 22 p6).

EU lawmakers and governments should make it easier for telecom companies to operate across borders, said Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes Monday. She’s pushing for action on key proposals in the European Commission’s “connected continent” telecom overhaul package, one of which is the creation of a one-stop shop for authorizing e-communications services. The proposed regulation eases telecom service expansion in several ways, the EC said. It replaces 28 different registration requirements with one single point of authorization and notification in the EU, lowering entry barriers for new companies and costs for service provision. The rule also ensures that multi-territory telecom companies get more consistent treatment from regulators, and makes it easier for smaller players to cross borders by ensuring that operators below a certain size don’t have to pay regulatory administrative costs or pay into universal service funds, it said. The European Parliament is about to begin discussion on possible amendments to the draft package.

Global patent filings in 2012 increased at their highest rate in 18 years, said a World Intellectual Property Organization news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1krVXnn). Patent filings increased by 9.2 percent last year to 2.35 million, while those for trademarks rose 6 percent, a lower growth rate than in recent years. China’s State Intellectual Property Office was primarily responsible for the growth in patent filings, with that office’s filings up 24 percent in 2012, said WIPO. It said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had a 7.8 percent filing increase.

Verizon added 16 channels to its FiOS Mobile App, the company said Thursday (http://yhoo.it/IHMADK). Verizon customers who have the free app can now live-stream AXS TV, beIN SPORT, beIN SPORT Espanol, Bloomberg Television, Cine Sony Television, Cooking Channel, Encore, FEARnet, NFL RedZone, Showtime, Showtime Extreme, Sony Movie Channel, Starz, Trinity Broadcast, Universal Sports and TV Guide Network. FiOS TV customers who are FiOS Internet customers can also use their mobile devices and tablets to watch up to 91 live linear national channels at home, said Verizon. The mobile app also offers more than 45,000 on-demand movie titles, it said.

The U.S. Small Business Administration opposes AT&T’s proposed special access tariff revisions, its Office of Advocacy told the FCC in a filing Thursday (http://bit.ly/195zdrH). The SBA is “greatly concerned that the change will result in significant downstream cost increases for small business customers, including both small competitive local exchange carriers as well as end users,” it said. SBA also has “persistent concerns regarding the state of competition in the special access market,” it said. SBA characterized AT&T’s proposed tariff revision (CD Nov 26 p3) as an attempt to “shift demand toward more expensive IP-based offerings by artificially increasing the price of its TDM services.” An all-IP network is something for small businesses to look forward to, but “it should not be financed through artificial price increases in the special access market,” SBA said.

The Michigan Senate approved a bill to update the Michigan Telecommunications Act to eliminate a requirement for a Public Service Commission proceeding for telecom providers to discontinue basic local exchange or toll service to an exchange starting on Jan. 1, 2017, said the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Mike Nofs (R), in a news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/1jun4Rb). Instead, the provider would have to notify the PSC, the provider’s customers, any interconnecting providers and the public in addition to filing a petition with the FCC, said the bill fact sheet (http://1.usa.gov/1gKdyqL). Senate Bill 636 would change the Michigan Intrastate Switched Toll Access Restructuring Mechanism (ARM) by requiring the PSC to recalculate it on March 13, 2018. The PSC would be required to reduce the amount of monthly disbursement from the ARM to an eligible provider on a pro rata basis for each exchange in which the provider has discontinued basic local exchange service. Nofs said: “This legislation establishes the process for transitioning to new technology while ensuring citizens’ continued access to reliable home phone service. This legislation will not remove landlines, it will modernize them.” SB-636 could potentially affect the availability of basic service for all customers, said Melissa Seifert, AARP Michigan associate state director-government affairs, in testimony before the Senate Energy and Technology Committee (http://bit.ly/1d5ntEX). “While it’s good that the commission can determine whether another provider is incapable of providing reliable service with access to 911, it has no real authority to ensure that consumers continue to receive affordable, reliable service as the commission may only issue an order ‘allowing’ the current provider to provide service,” said Seifert. The Michigan PSC took a neutral stance on this bill, and it did not provide comments to the committee, a PSC spokeswoman told us. The bill is under review by the House Energy and Technology Committee, said Nofs.