Joining Senate Communications Subcommittee are: Democrats Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut; Brian Schatz of Hawaii; and Mo Cowan of Massachusetts; and Republicans Dan Coats of Indiana; Tim Scott of South Carolina; Ted Cruz of Texas; Deb Fischer of Nebraska; and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin … Internet Society President and CEO Lynn St. Amour to leave next February when her contract ends … Lemko Corp. mobile wireless company hires Norman Fekrat, ex-IBM, as chief strategy & revenue officer …

Sen. Mo Cowan, D-Mass., added to Senate Commerce Committee … House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., hires Aaron Cutler, ex-House Commerce Committee, as senior adviser-policy and outreach whose areas include technology policy, replacing Mike Ference … Viacom promotes Jim Kukucka to Nickelodeon Group vice president-West Coast series production … Lobbying registrations: APTS Action for public-TV station advocacy, McDonald Hopkins Government Strategies, effective Feb. 1 … Granite Telecommunications, Capitol Resources, effective Feb. 4 … Entertainment Software Association, Elmendorf Ryan, and Brocade Communications Systems, Efrus Federal Advisors, both effective Jan. 1.

Thompson Coburn hires for new Lobbying & Policy group, all ex-Dow Lohnes Government Strategies: As partners Kenneth Salomon and Christopher Murray, and as senior manager of government affairs Haley Davis; and Kit Bond and John Cullerton, current partners, become members of the group … Tom Rosch, ex-FTC commissioner, rejoins Latham & Watkins as of-counsel in Antitrust & Competition Practice Group … Veria Living hires Joseph Cho, ex-NetCommerce and DB Direct, as vice president-digital, new position … Lobbyist registration: Google’s Motorola Mobility, Mercury Strategies, effective Feb. 1.

NTIA hires Juliana Gruenwald, ex-National Journal, as press secretary … Brightstar wireless distributor hires Daniel Currie, ex-SmartRoam, as president-international sales and operations, mobile device protection subsidiary eSecuritel … Lobbyist registrations: NCTA, Republic Consulting … USTelecom board adds Anand Vadapalli, Alaska Communications; and Dan Overland, Pottawatomie Telephone; and replacements for directors retiring from the association’s board are Craig Silliman, Verizon Communications, for Tom Tauke, who had taken a different job at the telco (CD Dec 12 p23); and Royster Tucker, North State Communications, for Hayden McKenzie.

President Barack Obama nominates to seats on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit: Raymond Chen, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and Todd Hughes, Department of Justice … James Burger, ex-Dow Lohnes, hired as partner by Thompson Coburn, which is starting a Lobbying & Policy practice group … Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., hires Joel Kelsey, ex-Free Press, as legislative assistant for Commerce Committee matters … Tessera Technologies hires John Thode, ex-McAfee, as president-DigitalOptics smartphone imaging business … Bryan Lamkin returns to Adobe, named senior vice president-corporate development … Lobbyist registrations: Intelsat, Blank Rome, effective Jan. 1 … Public Media NJ elects to board of trustees Scott Kobler, McCarter & English, and Robert Smartt, ex-New Jersey Treasury Department.

Retired Rear Adm. James Barnett, ex-Potomac Institute for Public Policy and FCC, joins Venable’s Telecommunications Group in Washington … New officers of the Fiber Optics Technology Consortium of the Telecommunications Industry Association: Chair Rodney Casteel, CommScope; Vice Chair Alfred Flores, Berk-Tek; Standards Chair Pete Pondillo, Corning; Membership Chair Dave Cook, 3M; and Communications Chair Paul Neveux, Superior Essex … Telemundo Media hires Jesús Torres Viera, ex-Jtvmedia and Ploptv, as executive vice president- programming and content; and names Daniel Cubillo, ex-Univision, as vice president of non-scripted content development, new position … Veria Living hires Andrew Struse, ex-Switched-On, as vice president-creative services, new position … CTAM President Char Beales says she'll retire at the end of 2013 … Irene Esteves, Time Warner Cable, joins National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications board of advisers … Cravath Swaine hires David Kappos, ex-U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as partner … Alcatel-Lucent CEO Ben Verwaayen won’t seek re-election as a director and will step down as CEO after a transition … Sony Pictures Television hires Carrie Ferman, ex-Remark Media, as senior vice president-business strategy and development, international production.

Corning adds Kevin Martin, ex-FCC chairman now with Patton Boggs, to board.

Broadband analytics firm Trendium hires Ihab Mahna, ex-Awasi, as vice president-customer solutions and alliances … Alpheus Communications names Matt Milliron, ex-Airband Communications, senior vice president-enterprise and channel sales … Outdoor Channel Holdings said Bridget Baker, NBCUniversal, and Jonathan Adelstein, ex-FCC and now PCIA, are joining its board … New World Teleport Association board members: Roger Franklin, Crystal Solutions; Richard Hadsall, MTN Government Services; Scott Sprague, Asia Broadcast Satellite; and James Trevelyan, Arqiva Broadcast & Media.

Charter Communications names Charles Fisher, ex-Guggenheim Securities, senior vice president-corporate finance, and Stefan Anninger, ex-Credit Suisse, vice president-investor relations … Joanna Dodd Massey, ex-UPN, named senior vice president-corporate communications & publicity for The Hub Television Network … Univision Communications promotes Trisha Pray to executive vice president-network sales … Data center company Mellanox Technologies promotes Amir Prescher to senior vice president-business development … VeriFone Systems names Marc Rothman, ex-Motorola Mobility, executive vice president-chief financial officer, and promotes Jay Parsons to senior vice president-digital media and taxi operations … Lobbyist registrations: federal IT reseller Carahsoft, Iron Mountain, and VMware, Efrus Federal Advisors, effective Jan 1 … Vormetric, Efrus Federal Advisors, effective Jan 24 … trans-Pacific fiber cable owner PC Landing, K&L Gates, effective Dec. 12.

Cincinnati Bell promotes Ted Torbeck to CEO and board member, succeeding Jack Cassidy, elected vice chairman … Qualcomm Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Bill Keitel retiring, being replaced by George Davis, Applied Materials, effective March 11 … Cisco adds Greg Brown, Motorola Solutions, to board.