Democrats on Tuesday touted their work to modernize, expand and secure the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure in the party’s 2012 national platform. Their plan offered sharp contrasts to the GOP’s platform positions on political advertising, cybersecurity and online privacy, while presenting similar commitments to protect Internet freedom and U.S. intellectual property (CD Aug 30 p1). Democrats did not offer any positions on Internet gambling, online pornography, cellphone tracking or online sales taxes. A copy of the 40 page platform circulated on Monday evening but was not ratified until after our Tuesday deadline.

ViaSat’s Excede satellite-based broadband service will embark on a brand advertising campaign in Q4 in an effort to raise awareness of a high-speed network that’s competing against DSL in metro markets, Lisa Scalpone, vice president of marketing, told us.

Wisconsin’s “broadband playbook” received both positive and concerned industry feedback Friday, as entities like AT&T, CenturyLink and the Wisconsin Cable Communications Association (WCCA) weighed in on the Aug. 31 commenting deadline. The PSC on Aug. 8 released a draft of the playbook it had developed throughout the spring and summer (CD Aug 24 p6). Federal grant money fuels the PSC’s buildout efforts, which include LinkWISCONSIN and the hiring of state Broadband Director Tithi Chattopadhyay, who started in early August. The playbook outlines broad strategies on leveraging resources, streamlining regulations and creating incentive for investment in Wisconsin. PSC staff will integrate feedback into the draft and then present it to the commission and then the Wisconsin Legislature, Chattopadhyay told us in August.

Harris County, Texas, got the first grant of Special Temporary Authority from the FCC Public Safety Bureau, under its new guidelines, to build an early first responder network in the 700 MHz, ahead of the national FirstNet. Harris County, which is one of only two local systems close to a launch, received the STA in an order handed down Friday by bureau Chief David Turetsky.

The FCC’s forthcoming decision on determining liability when telemarketing calls violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act could have a significant impact on relationships between companies and the telemarketing entities they hire, telecom and antitrust attorneys said. Last month the FTC sued Dish Network for violating telemarketing rules after consumers received telemarketing calls by a third party on behalf of Dish (CD Aug 24 p13). A pending decision from the FCC would affect how liability in this case and another FTC case against Dish is to be determined, they said.

Three Wisconsin companies slammed Transcom Enhanced Service’s petition for rehearing and clarification of the state’s judgment of Halo Wireless Thursday in filings with the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. Transcom had partnered with Halo Wireless as part of a controversial interconnection agreement with AT&T throughout several states. AT&T and other telcos accused Halo of not paying necessary access charges, a view multiple state utility commissions upheld throughout 2012. Halo Wireless was, in proceedings emanating from the agreement, condemned in multiple state utility commissions (CD Aug 2 p8) and ultimately liquidated in July. But its affiliate, 13-year-old, Texas-based Transcom, remains active and continues to fight for reconsideration throughout different states.

Comments on a request for a waiver from certain FCC set-top box rules by Nagra USA are due Sept. 19, a public notice from the Media Bureau said (http://xrl.us/bnnv6a). Nagra asked for a three-year waiver of rules requiring a set-top box to include a CableCARD slot as well as an HDMI or DVI (Digital Visual Interface) connection so it can make a video gateway device lacking those features (http://xrl.us/bnnv6n), should its planned device be found to be covered by rules. “On the other hand,” Nagra said in its petition for a waiver, “if such a device is not subject to these sections, we ask that the Commission clarify this point.” Replies to the comments are due Nov. 1 in docket 12-242, the public notice said.

Will the fourth time be the charm for the cable industry as it seeks to enter the wireless market in a big way once again? That’s the key question that cable executives, industry analysts and others are looking to answer in the wake of the federal government’s twin approvals of spectrum deals between Verizon Wireless and four leading U.S. cable operators last month.

The FCC handed down a proposed fine of $1.1 million against LDC Telecommunications for alleged slamming violations. Commissioner Ajit Pai dissented in part to the order, saying the proposed forfeiture was too small given the offense. Twenty-seven consumers had complained that LDC had switched them over to its long distance service without authorization, the FCC said.

A case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit could have major implications for the FCC’s authority over the cable industry, cable attorneys said. They said the court’s recent stay of an FCC order that Comcast carry the Tennis Channel more broadly than it already does (CD Aug 27 p10) has sparked some optimism among cable lawyers that the industry’s constitutional arguments against FCC regulation may be gaining some ground at the court. Whichever way the court rules, it will have big implications for the FCC’s ability to regulate cable, these lawyers said. A public interest attorney disagreed with those assessments. The FCC, Comcast and Tennis Channel didn’t immediately respond to our queries.