The FCC imposed new wireless location accuracy mandates on carriers Thursday, adopting a compromise that had been worked out between major carriers, APCO and the National Emergency Number Association. The commission also approved a notice of inquiry examining changes to 911 for VoIP and a notice of proposed rulemaking on future changes for wireless. None of the documents had been released at our deadline.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., will hold as many hearings as it takes to pass his public safety bill, the Senate Commerce Committee chairman said at a hearing Thursday. He conceded Congress probably won’t pass legislation this year. His bill (S-3756) would give the 700 MHz D-block to public safety, and fund the network with money from incentive auctions of broadcaster spectrum. Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said she’s “prepared to support” the Rockefeller bill, but still has funding questions. Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett maintained that the government should commercially auction the D-block.

Ad sales on pay-TV and broadcast networks should continue to increase into 2011 despite signs that the overall economy is still struggling to recover, executives said at a Goldman Sachs investor conference this week. Cable networks are attracting new advertisers to their programs, and the demand for political ads on broadcast networks should translate into increased demand from non-political marketers well past the elections, they said. CBS is selling ads at rates 30 percent higher than during the upfront ad buying season this year, CEO Leslie Moonves said. Demand is so high and inventory so scarce, that even without political spots, pricing would be up almost as high, he said.

Open Range Communications got more time from the FCC to find spectrum other than the S-band spectrum it has been leasing from Globalstar, the agency said on reconsideration Thursday. The International and Wireless bureaus and Office of Engineering and Technology extended what was originally a 60-day special temporary authority to Jan. 31, 2011, during which the company must find alternative spectrum for its service. Open Range has leased Globalstar’s terrestrial spectrum since 2008. The FCC recently denied a waiver request from Globalstar that would have let Open Range continue its service in that spectrum (CD Sept 16 p6).

Pay-TV providers should seek alternative ways to make money as consumer video watching habits shift towards online viewing, analysts told a USTelecom conference on broadband. This may require cable and satellite companies to increase their own VoD offerings and partner with content providers and even health care professionals in order to grow, analysts said.

"Black holes” in knowledge are slowing take-up of satellite technology in developing and developed countries, officials from the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization (CTO) and the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization said in interviews. Governments and regulators in CTO countries lack information on the relative costs and advantages of satellite communications and, in regions such as Africa, often face environmental, affordability and other challenges, said CTO CEO Ekwow Spio-Garbrah. Many officials have yet to see that satellite is a necessary part of the overall telecom picture, said ITSO Director General Jose Toscano.

The FCC approved an order letting schools and libraries lease dark fiber for broadband use, community use of schools’ broadband networks after hours and tying the E-rate cap to inflation. Indexing E-rate to inflation, as had been expected (CD Sept 8 p1), may mean the $2.25 billion annual cap will be raised for the first time in its history. The inflation measure caused Republican Commissioners Meredith Baker and Robert McDowell to part ways with their Democratic colleagues. Baker concurred on inflation and McDowell dissented. Both said they thought the Universal Service Fund -- of which E-rate is a part -- requires comprehensive reform.

The number of people who watch broadcast TV programming on the Internet has doubled in the last year, said a recent survey conducted by Altman Vilandrie & Co. “More people are cutting the cord than ever,” said Jonathan Hurd, the firm’s research director and one of several analysts speaking at USTelecom’s Broadband Research Summit.

Some states are looking to consolidate their emergency dispatch centers for cost savings as they migrate to the next generation 911 systems. But some local officials urged states to back off the plan. Concerns regarding additional cost, longer response time and quality of service were cited at a Maine Public Utility Commission hearing Wednesday. The state PUC proposed to reduce the current 26 public safety answering points to 15-17.

Members of the newly reconstituted Wireless Innovation Alliance said in a call with reporters Wednesday the FCC shouldn’t weaken its white spaces rules through changes sought by broadcasters and others. Representatives of Public Knowledge, Google and Dell spoke on the call. A vote on the white spaces order is scheduled for Thursday, though aspects of it were still being worked out at our deadline, agency officials said. The FCC released its sunshine notice last Thursday, cutting off lobbying, though industry officials can still answer questions sent their way by the FCC.