Hoping to refine its testing before tackling a special-access overhaul, the FCC issued a wide-ranging public notice seeking information on non-ILEC and “out of region” ILEC facilities. An FCC official told us the commission wants to come up with the right measuring stick for gauging special-access concerns. The notice, published late Thursday, promises that a separate data request is coming.

Eutelsat will be unable to use its just-launched W3B satellite due to a leak in the satellite’s propulsion system, the company said Friday. Soon after the satellite launched, the company learned of the debilitating leak in one of two propellant tanks, which has left the satellite unable to reach the necessary orbit. The satellite will remain in transfer orbit until Eutelsat and the satellite’s maker, Thales Alenia, decide what to do with it, said Eutelsat. The company declined to say how much it paid for the Ku- and Ka-band satellite and launch. Arianespace launched the satellite from French Guiana on an Ariane 5 launch vehicle.

The latest draft of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) does a better job than previous versions of addressing matters concerning deterrence and enforcement, but the agreement could be tougher on violations by foreign governments and make a greater effort to ensure that other rights aren’t violated, some speakers said Friday at a Washington International Trade Association event. The draft, released last month, takes up some issues not covered in the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) agreement from the World Trade Organization, they said.

The FCC recently sought comment on proposals to enable more flying of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a technology that could add to satellite capacity demand in coming years. The vehicles have grown increasingly common in the Middle East as wars in Iraq and Afghanistan progressed but are largely unused for civil operations, something that could change once a regulatory framework is in place. UAVs rely heavily on satellite and terrestrial communications, and some changes to spectrum allocations are likely required to ensure safety. The recommendations come from the advisory committee to the World Radiocommunication Conference of 2012 and have several steps to go before allowing for widespread use, satellite executives said.

Consumers who have cut their landline connections in favor of using only cellphones still are left out of many national polls, experts said this week. But major polling companies are rethinking whether they should include cellphone numbers in their survey calls.

Worried about the new shape of the Universal Service Fund, rural telcos have said they're going to come up with a USF formula of their own, said a joint ex parte filing by the Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance, the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies and the Western Telecommunications Alliance.

Those lobbying the FCC would get more time to report most conversations in ex parte filings, which would need to have more details than some do now, under a draft order awaiting commissioner approval, agency officials said. They said the order sticks mainly sticks to what was proposed in a rulemaking notice on ex partes approved by commissioners in February. A twist is that the draft contains a rulemaking notice to seek further comment on the disclosure of financial ties to companies, groups and others lobbying the FCC, said agency officials. That subject isn’t now part of the draft order’s provisions, they said.

Verizon Wireless agreed to pay $25 million to the U.S. Treasury after charging more than 15 million Americans an estimated $52.8 million in unwarranted fees for data use, the FCC announced Thursday. The payment, agreed to by Verizon in a consent decree, comes as the commission considers wireless bill-shock rules. Only two companies had previously agreed to pay $10 million or more under a consent decree with the FCC, including in a $24 million 2007 settlement with Univision over company claims that soap operas for children satisfy the commission’s educational programming rules.

Motorola posted a Q3 profit of $109 million, up from $12 million a year earlier. Revenue jumped to $4.9 billion, in its first year-over-year revenue increase since 2006. The company and a few other iDEN players said they remain confident of the technology despite Sprint’s intention to phase out its network that uses it.

The introduction next year of a video gateway device that marries cable video networking technology with Internet Protocol could provide a big boost to Arris’s sales, executives told investors late Wednesday after it reported Q3 financial results. “This is a big thing,” said Bruce McClelland, president of Arris’s broadband communications systems unit. “Every single operator out there is looking at multiple strategies on how to offer more interactive services, more advanced services, and more IP-based services,” he said. The devices have such great potential for growth because Arris has never sold anything like them before, said CEO Bob Stanzione. “This is something that starts from zero and grows from there."