The European Union’s first pan-European cyber exercise, which began Thursday, was meant to “test Europe’s preparedness against cyber threats [and] is an important first step towards working together to combat potential online threats to essential infrastructure and ensuring citizens and businesses feel safe and secure online,” said Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission and Digital Agenda Commissioner, who visited the U.K.’s cyberattack center during the simulation. The EC said the exercise “is due to be followed by more complex scenarios ultimately going from European to global level."

Federal review of the Comcast-NBC Universal deal is intensifying and could lead to government approval with many conditions as soon as December, lobbyists and government officials said. They said the Department of Justice remains further along than the FCC in reviewing Comcast’s multibillion dollar agreement to buy control of NBC Universal. The DOJ may finish its work on the deal in December, while it’s less certain when FCC commissioners will get an order to vote on, said FCC, industry and nonprofit officials. Comcast executives have said they hope to get regulatory approval for the deal this year.

T-Mobile USA’s Q3 profit fell 23 percent year-over-year to $320 million. But its parent company, Deutsche Telekom, reported net income of $1.47 billion, up from $1.36 billion a year earlier.

Time Warner Cable said it will soon introduce a low-cost, smaller package of TV channels. The “budget-oriented video offering” is “consistent with our belief that some customers would like a smaller package,” CEO Glenn Britt told analysts Thursday after the company reported Q3 financial results. Cablevision executives endorsed the idea but said it would be difficult to implement given the preferred regulatory treatment TV stations enjoy among all sources of cable content.

The elections may be over, but the race for House Commerce Committee chair next session is heating up. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., confirmed Thursday that he wants the job. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, made a public plea to incoming freshman Republicans to support him for the post. Due to GOP term limit rules, Ranking Member Barton must get a waiver from the House GOP Steering Committee to stay atop the committee. House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., and Fred Upton, R-Mich., who among those interested in the position has the most committee seniority, also want the job.

The congressional power shift from Tuesday’s elections is expected to have several effects on national satellite policies, said industry executives and lawyers. They pointed to export control overhaul, mobile satellite services spectrum and the role of satellite broadband as the most obvious and immediate areas where changes could take place.

CenturyLink and Qwest continued to see access line loss and a slowdown in Internet subscribers in Q3. The companies are waiting for approvals from 10 states and federal regulators of their plans to merge.

A GOP wave claimed longtime telecom heavyweight Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., and other Democrats in rural states, as Republicans seized control of the House Tuesday. The Republicans also won seats in the Senate, but the Democrats maintained power there. The GOP gain is seen as bad news for net neutrality supporters, while the loss of House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Boucher is a setback for rural telcos who supported his efforts to overhaul the Universal Service Fund.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski faces tough oversight from the new Congress starting in January, after Republicans picked up as many as 70 seats in the House Tuesday. That was more than the 55-seat swing that gave Republicans control of the House in 1994. But it’s unclear whether Genachowski will face the kind of Commerce Committee investigation Kevin Martin faced when Republicans lost control of the House four years ago (CD Sept 14 p1). The Republican takeover of the House also could have a long-lasting effect on FCC policy, particularly Genachowski proposals on net neutrality and broadband reclassification. Genachowski was an adviser to former Chairman Reed Hundt when Democrats lost control of both the House and Senate in 1994.

Split control of Congress may mean it takes longer for some telecom legislation to pass, but if the past is precedent, bills still will be approved, industry officials said. With Republicans taking over the House and Democrats keeping their majority in the Senate, the initial focus will be on budget issues, they said. House Commerce Committee members initially will try to undo health care and energy legislation championed by the administration and passed in the 111th Congress, some said.