Satellite backhaul provides the best way for 3G/LTE cellular providers to extend their networks in areas where terrestrial facilities are limited or cost-prohibitive, a Hughes report said. The report, released Monday, examined various technologies for backhauling Radio Area Network traffic from cell towers to the core network, Hughes said in a press release (http://bit.ly/1iiM8uo). Satellite offers cost savings, better performance and logistical advantages over fiber and other options “in filling coverage gaps of cellular mobile networks,” it said. The research was done by Frost & Sullivan. To address the space segment requirement for a backhaul application, the satellite industry has been implementing advanced technology to increase space segment efficiency, the report said (http://bit.ly/Q7clBZ). The cost of satellite access is independent of location, “whereas the cost-effectiveness of microwave towers is directly linked to the distance needed to travel and subsequent number of hops necessary,” it said. The recognition of satellite technology as a viable, cost-effective alternative to fiber for backhaul resulted in an estimated compound annual growth rate of about 5 percent for the satellite backhaul market between 2012 and 2017, it said.

Netflix’s speed on the Comcast network is up 65 percent since January as a result of the companies’ paid peering agreement (CD March 5 p1), Netflix said in a Monday blog post (http://nflx.it/1m3je27). The increase to 2.5 Mbps caused Comcast to jump six spots, to No. 5, in Netflix’s rankings of the top 16 fastest networks (http://nflx.it/MOnbuE). Cablevision-Optimum remains No. 1. “This month’s rankings are a great illustration of how performance can improve when ISPs work to connect directly to Netflix,” Netflix said. Netflix has previously lamented that it felt it had to make its deal with Comcast, calling on the FCC to ensure net neutrality and avoid a proliferation of paid peering deals (CD March 24 p1).

Dish Network went on the record as generally pleased by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposal for spectrum aggregation limits in the TV incentive auction. Details emerged Friday after industry briefings started on the proposal (CD April 14 p1). “The FCC’s spectrum aggregation proposal appears to provide some elegant solutions to complex problems, and strikes a reasonable balance between generating revenue and promoting competition,” said Jeff Blum, senior vice president, in an emailed statement.

The SEC should stop opposing updates to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, said think tanks and public interest groups in a Friday letter to the commission (http://bit.ly/1ewXrKZ). “Yes, the SEC -- the agency charged with regulating the securities industry -- has brought the ECPA update to a screeching halt,” said the American Civil Liberties Union in a Friday blog post about the letter, which also included the Americans for Tax Reform, the Center for Democracy & Technology and the Heritage Foundation (http://bit.ly/1kRmZpL). The ACLU said the SEC does not want the law updated to require a warrant to access email older than 180 days, which is the law’s current cut-off. “The SEC is trying to frame the issue as a loss of authority, it is really a power grab -- one that would apply not just to the SEC but all federal and state agencies, including the [Internal Revenue Service], [Drug Enforcement Administration], and even state health boards,” said the ACLU. The SEC did not comment.

The recent trend at the FCC to fund “pilot projects” makes it “essential” that every pilot project have an “established and confirmed end date,” Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said in a blog post Thursday (http://fcc.us/1i5VJVj). “I don’t doubt that an occasional pilot project may be of assistance, but I worry they can divert time and effort away from fixing or improving existing programs,” O'Rielly wrote. “We must keep in mind that these projects all come from scarce consumer-provided dollars.” O'Rielly included a chart showing that more than half a billion dollars has been allocated for pilot projects since 2006.

Three men were indicted for allegedly defrauding the FCC’s Lifeline program of $32 million, the Department of Justice said Thursday. The men, Thomas Biddix and Leonard Solt of Florida, and Kevin Cox of Tennessee, were charged with wire fraud, false claims and money laundering. According to the DOJ, the three men submitted “falsely inflated claims” to the Universal Service Administrative Co. between September 2009 and March 2011. Their company, Associated Telecommunications Management Services LLC, fraudulently received more than $32 million, the indictment says. In a statement, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler applauded USAC, the Office of Inspector General, and the FCC’s Lifeline policy and enforcement teams for their “considerable contributions” leading to the fraud indictment. “We will not tolerate abuse of this program, and are gratified to see the results of our hard work to battle fraud,” Wheeler said. According to the indictment, which was unsealed Thursday, ATMS “perpetrated a scheme to defraud the FCC and USAC” primarily by misrepresenting their number of verified qualifying customers. A federal court in Tampa authorized a seizure warrant seeking defendants’ “ill-gotten gains,” a DOJ news release said, including the contents of multiple bank accounts, a yacht and several luxury automobiles.

Correction: The legislator FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler wrote on prison calling rate issues (CD April 18 p18) is Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla.

Correction: The U.S. libraries for which an L-rate program would be designed are the 17,000 not connected to schools, said Urban Libraries Council representative Reed Hundt (CD April 9 p8).

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai railed against raising the local rate floor, in a speech to the Western Telecommunications Alliance Wednesday. The FCC should not raise many rural Americans’ phone bills by 46 percent, either through a one-time increase or by phasing in such an increase, he said. Pai called for freezing the local rate floor “indefinitely” while the agency examines the underlying policy. The rate floor, meant to reduce so-called “excessive subsidies” for basic phone service, was a “mistake” that the agency has a responsibility to correct, Pai said. “Rate shock could send customers off the network entirely,” he said, according to prepared remarks (http://fcc.us/1n4UGpf). “That means further uncertainty about the economics of investing in rural America.” The rate floor is “bizarre” in that it wrongly assumes “that what’s affordable in our country’s largest cities must be affordable in our small towns,” Pai said. Pai also said the quantile regression analysis benchmarks should be stricken. Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a blog post last week that a circulating order would do just that (see related story in this issue).

Neustar asked the FCC to formally seek public comment before selecting the Local Number Portability Administrator (LNPA) for the contract period scheduled to begin July 2015. “Notice and comment is required,” Neustar said in a letter to the commission Tuesday (http://bit.ly/PNL1s8). “Where the Commission has designated an entity to serve as a neutral numbering administrator ... based on a [North American Numbering Council] recommendation, it has acted after providing notice and seeking public comment,” Neustar said. “Because the selection process at issue will lead to the designation of a neutral LNP administrator, notice and comment is required here as well.” The notice seeking comment on NANC’s proposed recommendation should “specifically request comment on the significant issues that have been framed,” said Neustar. It said that would include whether the extension of the deadline for submission of proposals in April 2013 -- after the original deadline had come and gone -- “was lawful and appropriate.” The agency should also rule on whether the failure to seek further proposals in January was in the public interest, and whether the evaluation carried out pursuant to the request for proposal documents “constituted an ‘apples-to-apples’ comparison of competing bids,” said Neustar, the current LNPA contract holder. Another big question: “Whether the deficiencies in the process to date require that no award be made now and an additional round of bidding be held,” Neustar said. Given the “extraordinary ramifications” of the LNPA selection, the commission should address outstanding issues at the commission level, Neustar said. NANC met last week privately to consider whether to recommend the FCC renew Neustar’s contract or give it to rival bidders (CD March 26 p7).