Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks customers who subscribe to Showtime can now watch the network live and on demand for free through their computers or mobile devices, said TWC and Showtime in a news release Tuesday (http://on.mktw.net/1dyA5sR). The subscribers can watch the East and West Coast feeds of Showtime through Showtime’s authentication service, Showtime Anytime, on any computer, iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets or Kindle Fire anywhere in the U.S., said the companies. TWC and Bright House subscribers will also be able to watch current and past seasons of Showtime original series on demand through the app in addition to movies, sports, documentaries and specials, said the companies.
The House Communications Subcommittee will be asking FCC members about the agency’s recent proposal to allow cellphone use on planes in flight, said subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., in a statement Friday. He raised concerns about the change when it was announced last week (CD Nov 25 p1). Walden has invited all five commissioners for a December oversight hearing, where he expects “spirited discussion” of the aviation topic, he said.
The FCC released its “Small Entity Compliance Guide” on assessment and collection of regulatory fees for FY 2013. The guide lists where and when regulatory fees must be paid, and how much is owed (http://fcc.us/17O6Qxt).
Cablevision no longer faces rate regulation in 23 New York franchise areas, with fewer than 100,000 households total, said an FCC Media Bureau order released Monday. It granted the cable operator’s unopposed request for a finding of effective video competition in East Fishkill, Union Vale, Unionville and other areas (http://bit.ly/17O6HKf). Cablevision cited competition from both major U.S. DBS companies.
Woodcock Washburn will merge with Baker & Hostetler, the firms said in a statement Friday. The merger will double Baker & Hostetler’s current intellectual property practice to 140 lawyers and help it “provide clients with significant IP breadth and depth,” the announcement said.
Mobile devices will play their biggest role yet during Black Friday weekend, said a research report released Monday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (http://bit.ly/1bi0lWE). It said 90 percent of smartphone-owning parents who plan to shop this weekend said they would use a mobile device for assistance while shopping. Roughly half of those shoppers said they plan to use their mobile device for at least one of these things: checking the availability of an item in a store, tracking sales and researching gift ideas, said the report. “Their dependence upon mobile devices during this high-volume shopping timeframe opens up considerable opportunities for marketers,” said Anna Bager, general manager of IAB’s Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence.
The Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable will co-sponsor a daylong conference on the IP transition Dec. 3, a DTC spokeswoman told us Monday. The New England IP Transition Conference (http://1.usa.gov/1b0UxKZ) panels will focus on how the IP transition affects economic development, the existing network infrastructure and consumers, said the spokeswoman. “States are an important partner with the FCC to implement the transition from legacy networks to IP,” she said. “The FCC IP trials could impact federal and state rules, so states need to be involved.” The past two conferences have focused on broadband and wireless services, she said. The DTC has open an IP interconnection proceeding on a commercial agreement between Verizon and Comcast (http://1.usa.gov/1i9xCqL), she said. “We are going to be working around that in our discussions,” said the spokeswoman. Scheduled panelists include Sharon Gillet, Microsoft principal technology strategist; Hank Hultquist, AT&T vice president-federal regulatory affairs; Angie Kronenberg, Comptel general counsel; Paul Vasington, Verizon director-state public policy; Harold Feld, Public Knowledge senior vice president; and Mark Reilly, Comcast senior vice president. The conference is also sponsored by the FCBA, Boston Bar Association and New England Conference of Public Utilities Commissioners.
EchoStar, SES and Intelsat urged the FCC to terminate the proceeding that asks whether incumbent satellite operators are harming competition and warehousing spectrum. The three again said current FCC and ITU rules “adequately ensure that satellite spectrum is efficiently utilized by commission licensees, while allowing licensees the flexibility necessary to meet market demand,” the companies said in an ex parte filing in docket 13-147(http://bit.ly/1aTvDk3). They also noted the lack of record support for further FCC action. The filing recounted a meeting with the satellite companies and staff members of the International Bureau. The companies previously supported dismissal of the claims brought by satellite integrators, which prompted the proceeding (CD Aug 21 p23).
Row 44 is seeking a 60-day special temporary authority beginning Dec. 16, to operate its Ku-band earth stations aboard aircraft using Satmex 8 at 116.8 degrees west (http://bit.ly/17NTRf8). In a separate application, LightSquared requested authority to add a remote earth station at Cedar Hill, Texas, to its existing license (http://bit.ly/17NSsFk).
The FCC granted Texas special temporary authority for another 90 days for Harris County to run its 700 MHz public safety broadband network, said the Public Safety Bureau in an order released Monday (http://fcc.us/17UwzX9). FirstNet had concurred in the request, the order said. Texas “notes that significant progress has been made in negotiating a spectrum lease with FirstNet, and that there are ‘very few issues remaining,’ but that additional time is needed to conclude the negotiations,” said the order. “Texas explains that it achieved substantial deployment prior to enactment of the statute, and has brought eleven of its thirteen fixed sites into operation, with RF antennas and backhaul equipment installed at the remaining two."