Dish Network asked the FCC to dismiss the DBS company’s complaint against Media General and that broadcaster’s request for sanctions against Dish. “The parties have resolved their dispute and signed a confidential settlement agreement,” Dish said in its request. Dish had alleged Media General failed to act in good faith during carriage agreement negotiations (CD Oct 21 p7). In opposition, the broadcaster had asked the FCC to consider sanctioning Dish (CD Nov 18 p23). The companies reached a carriage agreement last week (CD Nov 19 p21).

The use of wireless fleet management systems could save up to 80 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2020, said a report (http://bit.ly/1aGe0DW) released Wednesday by the Wireless Foundation. “This savings is equivalent to the CO2 emissions produced by 22.6 coal-burning plants annually, 1.06 million tanker trucks’ worth of gasoline in the United States, or 16.6 million passenger vehicles on a yearly basis,” the report said “Wireless systems allow fleet managers to optimize their route planning by combining real-time data for vehicle location, fuel efficiency, idle time, engine performance, and other key diagnostics, all of which drive positive environmental impacts.” The foundation is funded by CTIA member companies. “Wireless products and services are making significant impacts to streamline operations, reduce environmental impact and create a sustainable environment,” said CTIA President Steve Largent.

Corrections: The satellite broadband speeds that EchoStar now provides are as fast as 15 Mbps, said Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Jennifer Manner (CD Nov 20 p25 ). … The organization with which Steven Metalitz is affiliated is the International Intellectual Property Alliance CD Nov 20 p25). … The amount allocated for the FCC E-rate program is $2.38 billion, said John Bailey, Digital Learning Now executive director (CD Nov 20 p19).

Broadcaster associations in Ohio, North Carolina and Virginia urged the FCC to take a flexible approach to the presentation of emergency information to the public and to require that during emergency alert system (EAS) activations, all cable systems pass through TV programming “that makes weather-related and other emergency information available to viewers,” they said in joint reply comments in docket 04-296 (http://bit.ly/1bDy5Zo). Reply comments on the first nationwide EAS test were due this week (CD Nov 12 p8). Cable systems undermine the efforts of local stations to provide their communities with this critical information “when cable systems choose to override local programming with other content during EAS activations,” they said. NCTA urged the Public Safety Bureau to consider the technical and operational costs and challenges posed by proposed changes to the EAS protocol for EAS participants before it makes recommendations for FCC action, it said (http://bit.ly/1bRDmjq). Cable operators “need to retain the ability to make the selective override decision where it is technically feasible and makes sense for their customers,” it said. Cable operators typically don’t have the ability to create or edit closed captioning streams and pass through closed captioning exactly as it’s received, it said. NCTA also urged the commission to reject DirecTV’s suggestion of formalizing use of the Washington, D.C., location code, it said. The American Cable Association cautioned against additional regulatory mandates that require its members to buy, replace or modify equipment to ensure compliance, ACA said (http://bit.ly/18oBvlF). The association supports efforts to ensure the readability of EAS alerts, it said. But the bureau must develop a full understanding of the costs involved in standardizing diverse character generator systems, and consider alternatives “before recommending that the commission impose inflexible readability mandates,” it said. Hearst said it supports a longer nationwide test. Another important set of data may be revealed if the next test is longer than two minutes, “namely data associated with the time-out limitations programmed into most EAS gear,” it said (http://bit.ly/19HSfQF).

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler should stop companies “evading ownership limits” with shared services agreements and enforce FCC rules that promote diversity, said Free Press in an ex parte filing Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1eiADjl). Free Press and other public interest groups met with Wheeler and his staff Tuesday, the filing said. Free Press also asked Wheeler to keep broadband Internet infrastructure “open and affordable for all” and to preserve “fundamental principles like nondiscrimination, interconnection and competition, on a technology neutral and forward-thinking basis,” said the filing. Free Press also said the commission should “strike the right balance” in the incentive auction by promoting competition among carriers and freeing up unlicensed spectrum. Wheeler should meet with the public, Free Press said: “One of the first things he and the other commissioners should do is get outside the Beltway, meet face to face with the people they've been appointed to serve, and learn more about how these policies affect their lives."

Don’t let National Security Agency surveillance revelations become a “political football” holding up approval of the 2014 intelligence authorization bill, said Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., in a Wall Street Journal joint op-ed, posted Tuesday night, with BakerHostetler attorney David Rivkin (http://on.wsj.com/1bDBLdF). There’s a possibility that bill will not pass Congress due to the attacks on the NSA, the op-ed said. It called the surveillance “entirely legal and invaluable” and said it would be “lamentable” if the attacks hurt this bill.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued a $10,000 fine against Romayne Davis for operating an unlicensed radio transmitter on the 89.5 MHz frequency in Oakland Park, Fla., it said in a forfeiture order Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1jnkrOk). FCC records showed that no license or authorization had been issued to Davis to operate a radio station at that location on that frequency, said a notice of apparent liability issued in April. Davis didn’t respond to the NAL, the order said.

PMCM TV’s MeTV affiliate KJWP Wilmington, Del., went on-air Monday for the first time since its reallocation from Wyoming, said a blog post (http://bit.ly/1bDDSyf) from law firm Fletcher Heald, which represented PMCM in the court battle with the FCC that preceded the move (CD Dec 17 p4). PMCM TV requested the reallocation after the DTV transition, basing the request on a section of the Communications Act which allows VHF stations to move to states without any VHF stations. The FCC opposed the move, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned that decision. “PMCM is in the process of developing locally-produced non-entertainment programming to provide Wilmington and the rest of the station’s service area with the benefits of a local station,” said the blog post. “Consistent with the unusual nature of this project from the get-go, KJWP has retained its distinctive ‘K'-prefix call sign even though it’s now east of the Mississippi.” The other station involved in the decision, KVNV Ely, Nev., is still in the process of moving to Middletown Township, N.J., the blog post said.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the wireless industry Wednesday announced the launch of “Warriors 4 Wireless,” a nonprofit organization that will steer military veterans to jobs in the wireless industry (http://1.usa.gov/17LQLdI). FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who was at the White House event, said the wireless industry is “winding up” while the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down. “We need armies of skilled workers” to make the buildout of wireless networks work, Wheeler said. “It’s a win for the increasing number of Americans across our nation who rely on wireless networks at work and at home, and the exciting new opportunities that these networks are helping create in health care, education and every corner of our economy.” PCIA President Jonathan Adelstein, a former FCC commissioner, said wireless companies are struggling to fill jobs as they build out LTE . “We're facing a wireless data crunch and carriers are addressing it by building up their infrastructure as quickly as they can,” Adelstein said. “There’s nobody better positioned to help us address this than veterans. ... Too many veterans are having trouble finding jobs.” Cisco and American Tower are among the companies that have agreed to participate in the program.

Witnesses for Thursday’s House Communications Subcommittee hearing on FirstNet are FirstNet Board Chairman Sam Ginn, FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief David Turetsky, Ohio Chief Information Officer Stu Davis, Harris Corp. Chief Technology Officer-Radio Frequency Communications Dennis Martinez, New Mexico Department of Information Technology Cabinet Secretary Darryl Ackley, and Dereck Orr, National Institute of Standards and Technology program manager-Public Safety Communications Research Office of Law Enforcement Standards. The hearing will be at 10:30 a.m. in 2121 Rayburn. The subcommittee majority memo included significant background on FirstNet and a section titled “Controversy Remains.” It described “several controversies” and shaken confidence in network leaders, citing transparency concerns that began plaguing FirstNet earlier this year. “Considerable uncertainty exists among stakeholders with respect to the cost, coverage, design, and the timing of the network deployment,” the GOP memo said (http://1.usa.gov/1hV9bgv). “FirstNet has acknowledged that it ‘fell short on answers to timing and business model questions’ in its outreach. While FirstNet continues to work to improve its communication, the lack of such fundamental information, if unresolved, could undermine the ability of a State to make an informed decision to opt-out of the FirstNet [radio access network] plan, or worse, compromise public safety’s confidence in the ability of FirstNet to deliver and sustain a truly nationwide public safety broadband network."