Forcing public safety agencies to move off the T-band will have an impact on communications interoperability, according to early results of a poll released Thursday at the quarterly meeting of the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council. Public safety got the 700 MHz D-block in the February spectrum law, but in return had to give up the T-band, heavily used in 11 major metropolitan areas in the U.S. In August, NPSTC sent out a questionnaire (http://xrl.us/bnkk2a) to gather information as the group prepares a report (CD Aug 14 p6).

Federal employees and their unions anxiously await a White House report to explain exactly how deep the looming sequestration will slash agency budgets if Congress fails to act between now and Jan. 1 to avoid the cuts, the officials said in recent interviews. Union officials representing the FCC, FTC, NTIA and Rural Utilities Service (RUS) employees say the looming cuts could severely limit the agencies’ ability to operate and regulate the booming telecom industry. The administration report, required by the Sequestration Transparency Act (http://xrl.us/bnoi4h), is expected by these officials to be released by the Office of Management and Budget on Friday.

Carriers already have multiple incentives to make their systems robust in the event of emergencies, and the FCC shouldn’t impose additional regulations, CTIA said in reply comments to a public notice asking about communications following the June 29 derecho wind storm. T-Mobile and MetroPCS offered similar comments. Carriers potentially face new backup power requirements in the wake of the 911 problems encountered in the days following the massive storm, which packed high winds and shut off power to millions (CD July 20 p1). The FCC imposed a requirement once before, later dropping the post-Hurricane Katrina mandate (CD Dec 2/08 p1) before it could take effect. Several jurisdictions in the Mid-Atlantic region expressed continuing 911 concerns.

"Doubling down” on the move toward an all-digital economy is the fastest way to drive economic growth and increase the standard of living of all Americans, Blair Levin, principal author of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan, said at a New America Foundation event Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bnoirt). He and former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt discussed their upcoming e-book, “Faster, Better, Cheaper,” which focuses on opportunities for economic growth enabled by technological change. Set to be published the day after the presidential election, the book will offer advice to the new administration. Other panelists encouraged public investment in broadband infrastructure in order to buoy every other industry in the American economy.

Few if any changes were expected to be made to a draft FCC order granting the NCTA’s request for forbearance from certain rules related to cable operators buying CLECs, agency officials said Wednesday. A draft granting the NCTA petition for forbearance from Section 652(b) of the Communications Act circulated last month (CD Aug 23 p2) and would let cable operators and CLECs combine when they have operations in the same area without needing FCC waivers. The petition will be deemed granted Sept. 19 should the commission fail to act before then.

The FCC announced Wednesday it is developing a process for measuring the speeds of wireless broadband connections. The FCC will build on its experience gained from its program for testing wireline speeds, the agency said in a news release. That program has run into data collection problems and the process has proved contentious (CD Aug 6 p5). Some industry observers questioned Wednesday why the FCC is in the data collection business.

The White House is not expected to issue any policy documents endorsing the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) spectrum sharing report, which was finalized more than three months ago and released in late July (CD July 23 p1). But after offering notably visible support for PCAST’s spectrum sharing report -- in part by lending a White House venue and a number of high-level administration officials for its release in late July (CD July 23 p1) -- the White House is moving ahead on a number of fronts to study and in some cases implement a number of the report’s recommendations.

Videogame consoles in the next cycle will offer “new opportunities” for developers and function as the “starting point” for a network of devices that also include smartphones and tablets, David Grijns, general manager of developer Avalanche Studios, said Wednesday at the NY Games Conference. He predicted that gamers will be able to play a console game no matter where they are via the use of other devices, vastly expanding on the capabilities now offered by current-generation consoles.

A start-up turnkey systems provider is heading to the CEDIA Expo this week in Indianapolis with an ambitious plan to take on interactive service providers ADT and Comcast and a coming product from AT&T, a key executive told us. Jeff Zemanek, ex-president of Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association, also said CEDIA members have been “doing things the same way since 1989.” Now sales and marketing vice president of start-up G2i (Generation 2 Interactive), he’s joined with CEO Reed Stevens, son of CEDIA founding chair Chris Stevens, to form what G2i hopes will usher in the next era of the CEDIA market.

Only Harris County, Texas, and two other local government groups asked the FCC for special temporary authority (STA) to operate an early public safety network in the 700 MHz band. Charlotte, N.C., which is considered to be among the furthest toward completion of a network, has yet to apply for an STA, FCC officials said Monday. The additional two applications were filed by the San Francisco-based Bay Area Regional Interoperable Communications System Authority (BayRICS) and by Adams County, Colo.