Nokia said Monday it expects to close the sale of its Devices & Services business to Microsoft on Friday. The deal “is now subject only to certain customary closing conditions,” it said. Microsoft agreed last year to acquire the Nokia business unit for about $7.2 billion (CD Sept 4 p5).

Cincinnati Bell announced a strategic partnership with The Brandery to provide up to 1 Gbps Internet speed to the business accelerator. The partnership will make The Brandery the only Top 10 startup accelerator in the U.S with a fiber partner and the first 1 Gbps small business customer in the Cincinnati Bell network, a Tuesday Cincinnati Bell press release said (http://bit.ly/1gGvO6i).

The National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative added AMC Networks, Disney/ESPN Media and Turner Broadcasting System on its MyTimeTV authentication platform. Offering the networks through the co-op “allows NRTC member subscribers to watch their pay TV subscription content via mobile devices in or away from home,” NRTC said in a news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/1jwELzd). The agreements with the networks include programming from Watch ABC Family, MLB coverage and TV Everywhere rights for AMC Networks’ Sundance and IFC, it said.

Hibernia Networks started the HiberniaCDN content delivery network, said a company news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1jZERAn). The network will assist in the delivery of “content for websites, ebooks, music, video” and other media, it said. In 2011, OnLive, a cloud computing service, selected Hibernia’s trans-Atlantic network to securely deliver bandwidth-intensive applications for OnLive’s cloud-based game service from the U.S. to the U.K..

Informa subsidiaries Ovum and Informa Telecoms & Media Research said Monday they will merge under the Ovum brand to “create the world’s largest telecoms industry research firm.” The merged firm plans to employ 275 staff, including 180 analysts, in its 23 global offices. Ovum Managing Director Steve Hotham will become CEO for the merged firm, which plans to fully integrate by the end of May (http://bit.ly/1emiLTo).

The National Lifeline Accountability Database is “up and running,” the FCC said in a news release Thursday. The database has already identified $169 million in annualized savings by flagging for elimination existing customers receiving duplicate subsidies while preventing enrollment of new duplicates, the agency said. Chairman Tom Wheeler in a statement called it an “effective solution” that “makes smart use of technology.” The agency Thursday released guidelines for independent audits that Lifeline providers receiving at least $5 million per year must conduct every two years (http://fcc.us/1j5ZPMH).

The Patent and Trademark Office’s (PTO) new Office of International Patent Cooperation (OIPC) will enable the agency “to focus dedicated resources to better implement its international patent cooperation efforts,” PTO said Thursday. OIPC will coordinate with PTO’s Office of Policy and International Affairs (OPIA) and the Office of the Chief Information Officer to provide “optimized business process solutions” to stakeholders and examiners using the international patent examination system, PTO said. OIPC “will allow us to increase certainty of IP rights while reducing costs for our stakeholders and moving towards a harmonized patent system,” said PTO Deputy Director Michelle Lee in a news release. PTO previously carried out international efforts through collaboration between programs like the Patent Prosecution Highway, Global Patent Search Network, Cooperative Patent Classification system and Global Dossier Initiative. Mark Powell, who now works in OPIA, will lead OIPC as deputy commissioner-international patent cooperation (http://1.usa.gov/1j6dh3b).

Verizon urged the FCC to take steps to further speed up decisionmaking, in process reform comments. Verizon said the unofficial 180-day shot clock on transaction reviews starts the day a deal is put on public notice by the FCC, rather than the day an application is filed. “Often it can take weeks for the Commission to release a Public Notice after the applications are filed with the Commission, and starting the shot-clock on release of the Public Notice adds unnecessary delay,” Verizon said (http://bit.ly/OdhFC9). It supported a proposal that the FCC post initial Freedom of Information Act decisions on its website. “This will increase transparency and afford parties equal opportunity to review Commission precedent as they take steps to protect confidential information and respond to FOIA requests,” the carrier said. Samsung urged the FCC to allow Technical Certification Bodies (TCBs) to recertify all radiofrequency devices. “The Commission established the TCB program to provide manufacturers an alternative to obtaining certification from the Commission, and to facilitate the more rapid introduction of RF equipment into the market,” Samsung said (http://bit.ly/QFtBi7). “In many ways, TCBs have improved the device approval process. But, for some classes of devices, the TCB approval process is followed by a frequently-redundant FCC review process that can take considerable time and introduce uncertainty into when a device will reach consumers.” Mobile Future also urged the FCC to tweak the shot clock. “The Commission’s ability to review proposed spectrum transactions in a timely, predictable, and transparent manner is critical to wireless consumers,” Mobile Future said (http://bit.ly/1iZGhcU). “Secondary markets facilitate new business combinations and new transactions that allow spectrum to flow to its highest and best use and for the industry to keep pace with fast-changing consumer demand.” Other commenters sought process reform at all FCC bureaus (CD April 2 p9).

Georgetown University’s Center for Business and Public Policy said Friday its new Evolution of Regulation and Innovation Project (ERIP) would focus on how regulation and innovation intersect, in order to identify policy changes that will improve economic conditions for consumers and the economy. The project will generate specific policy proposals in areas like communications regulation, digital infrastructure and emerging industries, Georgetown said. ERIP will be led by Project Manager Larry Downes and CBPP Executive Director John Mayo, Georgetown said. The ERIP advisory board will include former White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Administrator Cass Sunstein, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General-Economics Carl Shapiro and Robert Cooter, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley. “The technology landscape that consumers, businesses, and policymakers face today is very different than the world we imagined when our regulatory framework was developed,” Downes said in a news release. “There is an urgent need for specific, fact-based proposals that can help stakeholders navigate a new approach to regulation that is responsive to rapidly evolving markets while protecting consumers and enhancing economic growth” (http://bit.ly/1laWmNA).

The Telecommunications Industry Association’s (TIA) TR-42.10 Engineering Committee on Sustainable Information Communications Technology said it’s seeking participants to shape the American National Standards Institute/TIA-5011 “Standard Process for Sustainable Information Communications Technology (ICT) Manufacturers” standards document. Criteria outlining sustainable guidelines for deployment of communications technologies are lacking in the ICT sector, but “forward-looking” ICT companies have been updating their resource management and operations to become more eco-friendly and efficient, TIA said. The TR-42.10 committee said it will examine the need for a “unified and clearly defined ICT industry approach” on sustainable policies that apply to multiple technologies. “Today’s customers are increasingly environmentally conscious and committed to sustainability, so they will seek out products that are manufactured in such responsible manners,” said Julie Roy, chairwoman of the TR-42.10 committee, in a news release. “This document will help manufacturers demonstrate their performance and programs are meeting those expectations and will guide the customers on what is expected from the manufacturers they select.” Participants include Anixter, Belden, CommScope Network Solutions, Corning, Erico, Fluke Networks, Hitachi, Hubbell Premise Wiring, JPMorgan Chase, Molex, Ortronics, Superior Essex, The Siemon Company and UL (http://bit.ly/1gKAlGd).