More than 223 million active numbers were registered on the Do Not Call Registry as of September, the FTC said in a biennial report to Congress Monday (http://1.usa.gov/1ienpbz). During fiscal year 2013, 2,875 businesses and other entities paid more than $14 million to access the registry, the FTC said. The agency cautioned that VoIP calls, Caller ID spoofing and automated dialing technology have “made it easier for individuals and companies who disregard the law to make high volumes of calls at very little cost.” That has led to an increase in illegal robocalls, peaking at about 200,000 complaints per month to the FTC by the end of FY 2012, it said.

Two mid-size cable operators are integrating Wi-Fi hotspots, part of a nationwide effort by several operators to provide connections in regions served by their systems to broadband subscribers of any participating company. (See separate report above in this issue.) Most broadband subscribers of Bright House Networks and Cox Communications “can now enjoy even more access to CableWiFi, the nation’s largest WiFi network,” said the operators in a news release Friday (http://bit.ly/1cstWgA). It said “the new hotspots are strategically located to serve areas where customers are most likely to benefit from Internet access” out of their households, with thousands of hotspots in New York, Philadelphia, Washington and other markets.

Turksat and Eutelsat signed an agreement to increase satellite resources and services for Turkey. Eutelsat will redeploy Eutelsat 33A in May from 33 degrees east to 31 degrees east, “where it will be operated by Turksat under its satellite network filings,” Eutelsat said in a press release (http://bit.ly/JZCCPY). Turksat operates two satellites at 42 degrees east and it plans to launch Turksat 4A and Turksat 4B next year, Eutelsat said.

The Free State Foundation questioned a report by Britain’s Office of Communications (Ofcom) that wireless subscribers there pay lower prices and get a better deal than consumers in the U.S. “The intense pressure on telecom companies in the UK and other countries in Europe to reduce consumer prices has caused those companies to lose revenue and delay investment in infrastructure and innovation,” wrote FSF Legal Fellow Sarah Leggin (http://bit.ly/1hzNq2f). “Moreover, the plans available for such low prices do not include the data capacity that the average wireless customer today demands. As such, the low prices offered by wireless companies in the UK are not a proper basis for assessing the differences in consumer welfare between the wireless marketplace in the U.S. and the wireless marketplace in the UK."

Communications Daily won’t be published Wednesday, Christmas Day. Our next issue will be Thursday, Dec. 26.

Meredith Corp. signed a definitive agreement to buy the broadcast assets of TV stations in Phoenix and St. Louis from Gannett and Sander Media. Gannett also completed its acquisition of Belo. The agreement with Meredith stems from a Department of Justice consent decree, which required Gannett to divest a St. Louis station to get approval for its Belo acquisition (CD Dec 17 p6). The stations -- KTVK Phoenix, KASW Phoenix, and KMOV St. Louis -- will be sold for $407.5 million, Meredith said in a press release (http://bit.ly/1hzeX3R). “At the closing, Meredith will simultaneously convey KASW-TV to Sagamore Hill of Phoenix, LLC, which, through its affiliates, owns and operates two television stations in two markets,” Gannett said in a separate press release (http://ganne.tt/1c2USgP). The purchase of Belo “nearly doubles Gannett’s broadcast portfolio and creates the largest independent station group of major network affiliates in the top 25 markets,” it said (http://bit.ly/1cNF4zr).

The Senate Commerce Committee sent S.Res. 157 to the full Senate Thursday. The bill, which the committee cleared in late July, would express the sense of the Senate that phone service must be improved in rural areas and that no entity may unreasonably discriminate against users in those areas. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who introduced S.Res. 157 with Sens. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Tim Johnson, D-S.D., has expressed concerns that call completion issues persist despite FCC action (CD July 31 p1).

Neustar added area code 854 for portions of South Carolina served by the existing 843 code, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator said in a news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1ienhsG). Neustar had forecast that numbers in the 843 area code would be exhausted by the end of 2015, it said.

News Corp. acquired Storyful, a self-described social news agency, said a Friday release (http://bit.ly/18CSHG3). Storyful will remain a “stand-alone business” and work with News Corp.’s existing publications, including The Wall Street Journal. “Storyful has become the village square for valuable video, using journalistic sensibility, integrity and creativity to find, authenticate and commercialize user-generated content,” said Robert Thomson, News Corp. CEO: “Through this acquisition, we can extend the village square across borders, languages and platforms.” News Corp. acquired Storyful for about $25 million, according it said. Storyful CEO Mark Little said in a statement the News Corp. sale allows Storyful, launched in 2008, to “quickly transform its vision into a global reality."

Verizon has fewer than one million customers remaining on copper facilities in areas where Verizon fiber is available, the telco told aides to FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel Tuesday and Wednesday, an ex parte filing said (http://bit.ly/18DERmF). Verizon discussed its work to “facilitate IP VoIP interconnection through voluntary commercial agreements,” citing its agreement with Vonage to exchange voice traffic in IP format (see related story in this issue). Verizon’s agreement with Vonage is its “second voluntarily negotiated commercial IP interconnection agreement for VoIP,” and the telco expects other agreements will follow, it said.