The FCC approved petitions by 21 cities, counties and states seeking waivers to move forward with statewide and regional interoperable wireless broadband networks using 700 MHz spectrum already assigned to public safety. Chairman Julius Genachowski had sought a quick vote on the order so public safety agencies have a chance for NTIA broadband stimulus grants, sources said. The order is noteworthy marks the first time that the FCC has imposed a technology standard, requiring that the systems use LTE. The order wasn’t a surprise: Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett indicated in February that action on the waivers was coming.

T-Mobile USA reported a net subscriber loss of 77,000 in Q1, a sharp reversal of an increase of 415,000 a year earlier. But parent Deutsche Telekom rebounded to a net profit of $972.8 million from a $1.4 billion net loss from a year earlier, when its earnings were weighed down by goodwill charges on its U.K. business.

Consolidation among TV stations is needed soon, Nexstar Broadcasting Group Chairman and CEO Perry Sook told investors Wednesday. In media industries like radio and cable, major consolidation has already occurred, he said. And in broadcast TV, the national networks and production studios are highly concentrated, Sook said. “Consolidation has largely happened in those industries and it hasn’t happened here,” he said. “We think it does need to happen."

The long-awaited satellite TV reauthorization easily passed the House in a voice vote Wednesday. The bill (S-3333), which would reauthorize direct broadcast satellite distant-signal licenses until through 2014, passed the Senate last week, and now only needs the president’s signature to become law. Democrats and Republicans praised the bill on the House floor before the vote, and there were no objections. After it passed, Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., who was presiding over the House, was heard commenting to an aide, “That was smooth.” The license was originally set to expire at the end of last year, and several extensions had been required.

HyperCube and Level 3 continued to trade jabs over a decision proposed to the California Public Utility Commission by an administrative law judge (CD May 11 p10). In reply comments filed Tuesday on Judge Regina DeAngelis’s April 16 proposal regarding the companies’ dispute over tandem access charges, each challenged the other’s arguments.

"Small businesses have much at stake” in the way network neutrality plays out at the FCC, said Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., of the House Small Business Committee. But at a hearing Wednesday, small-business executives touched only lightly on the matter. Most instead emphasized the need for continued government support for broadband deployment and adoption efforts.

LOS ANGELES -- FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said the fastest way to protect consumer privacy on the Internet is through government regulation, but it’s not the preferred method. Speaking at the NCTA show Wednesday, he stressed the agency doesn’t want to stifle innovation or shut down the online marketplace. “But we do want to protect consumer choice and control,” he said. “And the message we have to the business community is: As long as you work toward the goal of meaningful self-regulation, then we will support it. But Congress will step in if the business community falls off the track and does not find a way to protect consumers’ privacy.”

LOS ANGELES -- The shift to viewing video on a variety of devices, with content now often distributed online, offers good and bad news for the entertainment industry, said CEOs from a Hollywood studio, cable and broadcasting. Content producers in those industries must be careful to still get paid for their programming to avoid the mistakes made by the music industry, panelists at the NCTA show said Wednesday. Those industries may need to make changes to continue to profit as content moves to more and more devices, they said.

Accuracy is critical as the FCC upgrades its spectrum dashboard, now in Beta release, but set to be updated later this year, speakers said at an FCC forum Wednesday. The dashboard came in for both praise and criticism.

TORONTO -- Despite new efforts by federal TV regulators to jump-start Canada’s digital TV transition, a growing number of industry experts are questioning the likelihood that the government’s Aug. 31, 2011, deadline for making the switchover from analog in larger markets will be met.