Wall Street has had a mixed view of the National Broadband Plan since it was unveiled by the FCC last month, Simon Flannery of Morgan Stanley said at a New York Law School symposium Monday. Blair Levin, who headed development of the plan, said it’s important that universal service reform did not emerge as a major issue of debate during last week’s Senate hearing on the plan.

Washington’s Utilities and Transportation Commission conditionally approved the purchase of Verizon’s landline network by Frontier, the agency said late Friday. The transaction has been approved by regulators in Arizona, California, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon and South Carolina. “We're pleased the Commission has acted and approved the transaction,” said Tim McCallion, president of Verizon’s West region. “We are now evaluating the order and the unique circumstances underlying the conditions."

Florida’s oversight of telcos and other utilities would undergo significant change if legislators pass either of two rival bills, officials said. S-1034, by Sen. Mike Fasano, a Republican, would impose tighter controls on ex parte communications. A competing House measure, HB-7209 by GOP Rep. Steve Precourt, would address ex parte communications but also put the regulatory agency through a drastic reorganization that would include putting its staff under the control of the governor’s office. Fasano’s bill was passed March 3 by the Senate 39-1. Precourt’s bill got its final committee approval Wednesday.

The FCC decided not to adopt a new high-cost support mechanism for non-rural insular carriers in Puerto Rico. “Telephone subscribership in Puerto Rico is not yet at the same level as in the mainland United States, but the data before us indicate that the gap is closing rapidly and may well be eliminated entirely in the near future,” the commission said in its order. The commission also pointed to increased wireless service as a factor in its decision. Low-income customers in Puerto Rico “increasingly are served by wireless competitive eligible telecom carriers (ETCs),” it said. “Customers of wireless carriers received more than one-third of the total low-income support disbursed to Puerto Rico in 2008."

FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz can promise advertisers he won’t regulate behavioral targeting under expanded authority in a House-passed financial bill (CD March 19 p4). But that’s not the same as locking down the wide-ranging commission’s authority in law, former FTC staffers told a Progress & Freedom Foundation event on the Hill Friday. The commission’s most successful rulemakings, from the Do Not Call list to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), came from specific legislative authorizations and that’s a good pattern to retain, they said.

The American Public Communications Council said the FCC should act with care on a seemingly “innocuous” request by Virgin Mobile to be allowed to sign customers up for the federal Lifeline program online or through automated voice response, without talking to a sales representative for the prepaid mobile provider. The District of Columbia’s Public Service Commission expressed similar concerns about risks of Universal Service Fund fraud. Comments on the petition were due at the FCC last week.

Medical marijuana dispensaries in the 14 states where they're legal are increasingly looking for advertising time on TV and radio stations, industry executives and marijuana advocates said in interviews. Some stations worry that accepting the ads could jeopardize their FCC licenses, because the businesses violate federal law. But they don’t want to pass up the revenue, said Greg MacDonald, president of the broadcasters association in Montana, where medical marijuana was recently legalized.

The FCC Future of Media report shouldn’t be narrowed because of First Amendment restrictions or the commission’s lack of jurisdiction over subjects involved, the head of the effort said. Steve Waldman told skeptical fellow members on a panel Friday organized by the Free State Foundation that he shares concern about free speech. “It’s enough of an issue that you'll be sensitive to it” in putting together the study, he said. Former Republican Commissioner Deborah Tate and ex-Media Bureau Chief Donna Gregg, who worked under Kevin Martin, expressed worries that the project is overstepping the FCC’s authority and may lead to regulation.

The FCC paused its clock on consideration of Comcast’s agreement to buy control of NBC Universal, because staffers want additional information from the companies. Comment deadlines on the deal are on hold until Comcast, NBC Universal and NBCU’s parent, General Electric, provide the information, said a Media Bureau order released Friday. A report will take up “the claimed benefits from the transaction” and another its effect on video distribution online, said the ruling signed by bureau Chief Bill Lake.

Smaller carriers have fought what appears to be a losing battle against “factors” included in an order eliminating the in-market exception approved as part of the commission’s automatic roaming rules in 2007. The order is a win for carriers other than Verizon Wireless and AT&T, because it removes the exclusion and creates a presumption in favor of roaming, FCC officials said. It does provide a list of nonexclusive factors to be considered by the FCC only when a formal complaint is filed. Some smaller carriers want the factors to be removed because of fears that they could be used by AT&T or Verizon to reject roaming requests. The factors are not the same as those sought by Verizon (CD April 12 p5).