NRTC objected, in earlier comments, saying many of its members hold licenses in the 220-222 MHz band, acquired on the secondary market, located close to PTC-220 operations. “NRTC supports the deployment of Positive Train Control technology but is concerned that a unilateral grant of PTC-220’s Waiver Request will unfairly undercut NRTC’s license rights and degrade its ability to expand its system in the future,” it said (http://bit.ly/17ikQxc).

Sprint Nextel lost a net 560,000 subscribers during Q1, in part because of the continued exodus of subscribers from its Nextel platform. About 1.3 million subscribers remain on the Nextel platform, which Sprint still expects to shut down June 30, said Sprint CEO Dan Hesse Wednesday during a Q1 investor earnings call. Sprint added 12,000 subscribers to its own platform, well below analyst estimates of 110,000 to 275,000 additions. Sprint Chief Financial Officer Joseph Eutenauer attributed the losses partially to exiting business clients on the Nextel network who chose to also cancel related subscriptions on the Sprint platform. The carrier will remain focused on recapturing as many of the remaining 1.3 million subscribers on the Nextel platform as it can, though Eutenauer said earlier the carrier still expects it will only be able to recapture about 40 percent of those subscribers. Costs related to the shutdown will reach $500 million to $600 million during Q2, Sprint said.

Free-market and minority groups turned up the heat on President Barack Obama to nominate FCC and FTC commissioners who can best represent their perspectives on telecom and Internet regulatory matters. The pleas came in separate letters sent to the White House on Tuesday. Obama has not yet said who he plans to nominate as Democratic FCC chairman, Republican FCC commissioner and Democratic FTC commissioner. The White House did not comment on the letters.

The biggest remaining challenge for the shift to IPv6 is transitioning consumer electronics (CE) to support the platform, said representatives from the CE, cable and Internet industries in interviews this week. They said work remains for ISPs and some Web content providers, but many available connected devices don’t yet support IPv6. Over-the-top applications such as Facebook and Google are driving global Internet traffic, and if all ISPs shifted to IPv6 the entire Internet would run on the updated technology, said IPv6 Forum Chairman Latif Ladid. Obstacles to IPv6 takeup remain despite its huge potential for value creation via the Internet of Things, smart grids and other uses, he said.

Inmate calling services and prisoners’ rights groups continued to battle over the proper per-minute rate for calls from jail, in reply comments filed in docket 12-353 Monday and Tuesday. The two largest inmate calling service (ICS) providers, Global Tel*Link and Securus, argued that the commission lacks authority to implement the requested rate reductions, which could bring rates down to 7 cents per minute for interstate calls. Prison rights groups and the Congressional Black Caucus urged action. A December NPRM sought comment on whether to regulate ICS rates, and how to do so without sacrificing security (CD Dec 31 p6).

FirstNet board member Paul Fitzgerald, sheriff of Story County, Iowa, sharply criticized the leadership of the board Tuesday for keeping public safety on the sidelines as plans for the network are taking shape. Fitzgerald is one of only three active first responders on the board. The board voted to table a resolution by Fitzgerald, which was sharply critical of the work done by the board. In another major development, FirstNet board Chairman Sam Ginn announced that Bill D'Agostino, a former Verizon Wireless executive, was selected as FirstNet general manager after a lengthy search.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) should take steps to eliminate functional claiming -- when a patent claim recites the function of a piece of software -- because such claims allow patentees to “claim functions, not inventions” and therefore obscure the patent’s limits, Verizon Communications said in a filing the PTO released Monday. The PTO collected comments through April 15 on possible reforms to improve the quality of software-related patents as part of its “Software Partnership” with industry; the agency released filings from Verizon and other companies and industry groups filed at the deadline (CD Feb 28 p16).

House lawmakers are taking a close look this week at the FCC’s handling of the Universal Service Fund Lifeline Assistance Program, aimed at increasing Americans’ access to telecom service. On Thursday, Republicans on the House Communications Subcommittee said they plan to ask during a hearing at 10:30 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn tough questions about allegations of waste and fraud in the FCC Lifeline program. Meanwhile, a group of House Democrats, led by Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., introduced a bill Tuesday to change the Lifeline program and codify a provision that would permit eligible users to use subsidies to acquire wireless broadband services. House Communications Subcommittee Democrats also met with FCC staff members to discuss the status of the overall program.

The FTC should consider a six-month delay in implementing the updated Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) rule, online advertising and other trade associations said in a letter to the agency Tuesday. The new rule, unveiled in December, is currently scheduled to be implemented July 1. Also on Tuesday, privacy advocates sent a letter to the FTC, urging the agency to ignore the calls to delay implementation.

Uncertainty about the details of the upcoming spectrum incentive auction and a perception of unfair treatment by the FCC has Class A owners worried about the future of their stations, said several owners and other industry officials in interviews. “How can you know if you should sell your business if you don’t know the value, or even how the auction will work?” asked Vincent Castelli, general manager of a Prism Broadcasting Network Class A in Atlanta. The executives we spoke with elaborated on questions they have for the commission, some of which were posed at a Media Bureau event at the NAB Show (CD April 10 p9).