The FCC scheduled its monthly meeting for 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the Commission Meeting Room, the commission said in a press release (http://bit.ly/1eVbpqV). The starting time was pushed back from 10:30 a.m.

Time Warner Cable began carrying Al Jazeera America Friday, said the channel in a news release (http://alj.am/18dOYyk). It said with that carriage, the channel reaches almost 55 million households.

Three members of Congress asked the FCC to “suspend and investigate” AT&T’s recent special access filing. “We are concerned about AT&T’s recent notice of its intention to eliminate service plans for terms longer than three years and the effect this action, if approved, would have on prices and competition in the marketplace,” said Friday’s letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler from House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Reps. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., and Mike Doyle, D-Pa. “By eliminating these plans, AT&T is effectively increasing rates in some regions by as much as 24 percent -- which would result in increased costs to users by hundreds of millions of dollars.” Several CLECs also criticized the AT&T filing (CD Dec 4 p3). AT&T framed the move in a November blog post as part of the IP transition. “The tariff changes filed today will grandfather DS1 and DS3 term plans greater than 36 months, including ones that have term periods as long as seven years,” Senior Vice President Bob Quinn wrote of changes that could become effective Tuesday. “The first step of that plan is to align the commitments we make to our customers with the goal of transitioning to an all-IP network. That is why today we have taken a step to make sure that multi-year commitments we enter into today for aging TDM-based services reflect the on-going transition to IP and do not extend beyond the expected completion of our transition in 2020.” The members of Congress lamented the “broken special access market” and said they're “pleased” the FCC is collecting data on it. They wanted AT&T’s filing suspended to allow more data collection and not “short circuit” that process.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s first FCBA Chairman’s Dinner speech began with him being upstaged by his predecessor. When “the FCC chair” was announced, former acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn took the podium instead of Wheeler. “Most of you bought your tickets with high expectations when I was the headliner,” Clyburn told the crowd, which numbered more than 1,600 according to FCBA President Joe Di Scipio. After collecting her own laughs, Clyburn yielded the floor to Wheeler. “Why would anyone voluntarily subject themselves to a comedy routine by me or any other FCC chairman,” asked Wheeler, before starting a speech and multimedia presentation that included vintage video from a 1980’s NCTA event at which a much younger, mustachioed Wheeler was serenaded by a group of dancers dubbed “the Tomettes.” Wheeler’s speech advised the gathered attorneys on the best ways to curry favor with his office -- quoting his books is “very good,” asking for autographs is “tacky” -- and was peppered with pictures of his grandchildren and advice on how to find his books on Amazon.com. Wheeler also told the crowd there was enough wine at the event for everyone, but only if the AT&T and Verizon tables agreed to limit their intake -- which comes as the FCC prepares a voluntary broadcast-TV incentive auction where some have called for limiting the top two carriers’ participation. “Thank the broadcasters for sharing,” Wheeler said. He also made many references to his age as the oldest FCC chairman, implying that his interest in the Civil War comes from having witnessed it -- “You just had to be there,” he said -- and saying he doesn’t understand Commissioner Ajit Pai’s references to 1990s R&B group Boyz II Men. “Many people assume this will be my last gig,” Wheeler said. “Are you kidding? I'm that close to being a senior fellow of the Aspen Institute.” Aspen is where many ex-members go immediately after leaving the agency. Wheeler ended his speech on a more serious note, saying the passing of Nelson Mandela made the night “a historically sad evening” and praising the South African leader’s principles and life.

The Satellite Industry Association urged the FCC not to allocate the entire allotment of 1 percent rise-over-thermal to a secondary Aeronautical Mobile Service allocation if it decides to proceed with such as allocation. Doing so would be inconsistent with an International Telecommunication Union recommendation, “which makes it clear that the 1 percent allotment is for all non-primary sources interference and not any single interfering service,” it said in an ex parte filing in docket 13-114 (http://bit.ly/IPF8qH). The filing recounts a meeting with members of the International and Wireless bureaus and the Office of Engineering and Technology on Qualcomm’s proposal to implement a new secondary AMS allocation in the 14.0-14.5 GHz band, it said. Since there are already other secondary services in various parts of the band, “and there is a realistic possibility of at least one future secondary service ... the proposed AMS should be allotted only a third of the 1% budget,” it said. SIA stressed the need for technical rules for any potential AMS service using realistic antenna gain-to-noise-temperature values for existing current and future fixed satellite services satellites, “and deriving actual and enforceable power limits on any new secondary service that are sufficient to keep the interference caused by this system below 0.33%,” it said.

The White House released its second Open Government National Action Plan Friday, intended to build on the three-year project to give citizens more access to government information and databases (http://1.usa.gov/1blIat2). According to a blog post (http://1.usa.gov/18q3Vbg), the new plan will improve the White House’s “We the People” online petitions platform; consolidate the Freedom of Information Act online service and develop common FOIA standards for all government agencies; include a new version of data.gov with expanded access to agriculture and nutrition data; and promote a “participatory budgeting” process “giving citizens a voice in how taxpayer dollars are spent in their communities.” The post’s authors, Deputy Chief Technology Officer Nick Sinai and Senior Director-Development and Democracy Gayle Smith, said the new plan “is another opportunity to set concrete and measurable goals for achieving a more transparent, participatory, and collaborative government."

Service providers should have the “necessary flexibility” to develop and maintain a resilient 911 system under the FCC Public Safety Bureau’s proposal to improve 911 reliability, said Verizon officials at a meeting to discuss the pending NPRM, according to an ex parte letter Thursday (http://bit.ly/1blYygP). The FCC is scheduled to discuss an order to improve the reliability and resiliency of 911 networks nationwide at its December open meeting. Verizon said its understanding of the proposal would establish a certification program for 911 service providers centered on core practices relating to 911 circuit diversity, network monitoring and backup power for public safety answering points. “Any such certification program should give a 911 service provider the flexibility to certify that it is conforming to a specific practice; or if it is not conforming, what alternative actions, if any, the provider is undertaking,” said Verizon. Departing from giving flexibility would not work for 911 resiliency, and prescriptive mandates would “impede 911 providers’ flexibility to prepare for and respond to disasters,” it said. “Technology and the associated service-disrupting threats change far too quickly for mandated practices to keep up,” said Verizon.

C Spire started its pre-registration phase to bring gigabit fiber to nine cities in Mississippi, said the company in a news release (http://yhoo.it/1f3phAj). The cities of Batesville, Clinton, Corinth, Hattiesburg, Horn Lake, McComb, Quitman, Ridgeland and Starkville have approved franchise agreements to start the pre-registration phase, said C Spire. C Spire created websites for each city that feature detailed, interactive maps of fiberhoods showing what percentage of residents needs to pre-register to turn the area “green” and qualify for service buildout, it said. Registration goals vary in the 80 fiberhoods between 35 and 45 percent, said C Spire.

Nortel Networks, which declared bankruptcy in 2009 and raised $7.5 billion auctioning its remaining assets, doesn’t have to allocate those funds through arbitration, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Friday (http://1.usa.gov/1bNzyBV). “Because the contract at the center of this controversy does not reflect the parties’ intent to arbitrate disputes about the auction funds, we will not compel the parties to do so,” wrote the court, affirming a federal bankruptcy court holding. The unanimous opinion was written by Judge Julio Fuentes and joined by Judge Morton Greenberg and Senior Judge Maryanne Barry. The various debtors comprising the Nortel brand “have $7.5 billion and no agreed-upon method for dividing it,” the court said, noting the bankruptcy court would hold a hearing to allocate the funds.

The FCC should make additional spectrum available to wireless carriers through the upcoming incentive auction and the ongoing work to free up the AWS-3 band, T-Mobile US executives told FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Jessica Rosenworcel, Ajit Pai and Michael O'Rielly in separate meetings Tuesday and Wednesday. T-Mobile executives told the commissioners it’s important the wireless carrier have “an opportunity to obtain low-band spectrum to promote a competitive mobile marketplace,” T-Mobile said in an ex parte filing Friday. The carrier also “advocated for reasonable limits” on Verizon Wireless and AT&T, which together control 80 percent of the U.S.’s low-band frequencies (http://bit.ly/1iHO0iA).