The FCC Public Safety Bureau sought comment on proposals for implementing a reconfigured 800 MHz band plan along the U.S.-Mexico border. The bureau said its proposed plan could help address 800 MHz congestion in Southern California. Use of the 800 MHz band along the border had been dictated by a bilateral protocol signed in 1994. But in June, the U.S. and Mexico agreed to an amended protocol, which takes into account the FCC’s 2004 800 MHz rebanding order. The signing of the protocol was a key step so the U.S. could wrap up reconfiguration of the 800 MHz band, a process which has been stalled along the border (CD June 7 p7). Comments are due Oct. 1, replies Oct. 15.

The NewsRight online content licensing venture will be a success, despite the skepticism that some in the industry continue to express over such business models, executives said in interviews. Two skeptics said no venture, -- whether this one or other ongoing initiatives to license online video, news articles and other content to websites -- appears to be encountering much success. NewsRight’s head and another board member said venture’s model is going to work -- both for members of the venture, which include media companies seeking to license their content, and for websites.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed suit against the Department of Justice Thursday, asking for answers about “illegal email and telephone call surveillance” conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA). EFF cites a July letter from a government official to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in which the group says the government acknowledged that NSA surveillance had gone further than is permitted by the FISA Amendments Act (FAA) of 2008. EFF brought the action in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Telephone pole taxes are not cheap or consistent, two New Hampshire telcos argue. FairPoint Communications plans to file pole assessment challenges with “more than 100” municipalities Friday, a spokesman told us. Granite State Communications, meanwhile, is challenging three New Hampshire communities in litigation mailed out Wednesday, Chief Operating Officer Bill Stafford said, saying another small telco is also filing suit. FairPoint said in a statement this week its pole and right-of-way taxes for 2011 and 2012 total more than $11.2 million (http://xrl.us/bnnrjg), and Granite’s taxes went up $150,000 last year due the state’s pole tax, according to Stafford. He said his company’s land and building taxes amounted to just around $80,000 by comparison.

Swedish cable operator Com Hem will deploy a cloud-based TiVo platform as part of its IPTV network during the “next few quarters” as a possible precursor to TiVo introducing it in the U.S., said Naveen Chopra, senior vice president-corporate development and strategy, on an earnings call. The proposed cloud service, which has “some” U.S. customers, will support “a number of devices” when it launches and “will expand from there,” Chopra said. Chopra didn’t disclose the timing for introducing a U.S. service.

The FCC will entertain applications to build early public safety networks in the entire 20 MHz of spectrum available to public safety under the February spectrum law, the commission said in an order released late Wednesday. The FCC said it took the step based on advice from NTIA.

Pandora was among the most actively traded stocks early Thursday, up as much as 20 percent following better-than expected results for fiscal 2013 Q2, ended July 31. In an earnings webcast Wednesday, the company said an 86 percent spike in mobile revenue year over year helped fuel revenue growth of 51 percent to $101.3 million. Net loss for fiscal Q2 widened to $5.4 million from a loss of $1.8 million in fiscal Q2 2012, Pandora said. The company raised full-year revenue guidance to $425 million-$432 million from $420 million-$427 million.

An order addressing the Oct. 5 sunset of the FCC’s ban on exclusive programming deals among cable operators and the programming networks they own is expected to circulate soon, industry and agency official said. If the item is to be voted at the FCC’s Sept. 28 open meeting, it would need to circulate by Friday, Sept. 7, industry attorneys said. But others cautioned the order, which is likely to be controversial, could get an 11th-hour treatment from the commission. Industry lawyers said information on the item has been scant but they expect it to relax the ban on exclusive programming contracts rather than let it expire or extend it entirely. A spokeswoman for the Media Bureau declined to comment.

The U.S. Supreme Court shouldn’t hear an appeal of a decision upholding the FCC’s 2009 wireless zoning shot clock order, the commission argued in a brief to the court Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bnnnk8). The FCC submitted its brief in opposition to motions for writ of certiorari filed after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments by Arlington, Texas, that the order was “arbitrary and capricious” and a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (CD Jan 24 p4). Lacking statutory guidance, the FCC Wireless Bureau had adopted deadlines of 90 days for processing collocation applications, and 150 days for other applications, with the ability to extend the timeframe “by mutual consent” of the carrier and local government.

Apple must wait until Dec. 6 to argue in court for its request for a permanent ban on the U.S. sale of eight Samsung smartphones, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said in an order Tuesday. Apple was initially set to argue for the permanent ban at a previously-scheduled Sept. 20 hearing, at which Koh was expected to issue a final decision on the outcome of Apple’s lawsuit against Samsung over design and utility patent violations.