Two similar Texas bills would define VoIP and prohibit state regulation for IP-enabled services and VoIP. SB-980 also seeks to exempt telecom companies from reporting requirements. It and SB-985 are sponsored by Republican Sen. John Carona.

The FCC is considering a new approach to AllVid, potentially setting aside a plan that would have required pay-TV distributors to make available a video home gateway device capable of interacting with a wide array of consumer electronics products, industry officials said. They said the new approach being weighed by the Media Bureau would give pay-TV operators more flexibility in meeting the requirements of any AllVid rules, potentially allowing operators that deliver video in Internet Protocol to be compliant. Bureau staffers have been meeting with representatives from all sides of the issue to gather input on the new approach, industry officials said.

Google and the New America Foundation took the wraps off a broadband map that displays median download and upload speeds around the world, making use of open, publicly available M-Lab data. “There’s a lot of assertions” about global broadband rankings, “but those are often not very quantitative, so we're very interested in making those more crisp and understandable,” said Google Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf, demonstrating the tool at a New America Foundation event Wednesday. Speakers also discussed broadband usage caps and bandwidth-intensive video apps such as Netflix.

A South African company may end up with the ICO Global’s international satellite and spectrum assests under a February agreement between the companies, ICO said in an SEC filing. The deal gives the South African company, Jay & Jayendra, an option to take over ICO’s medium earth orbit assets, the filing says. The agreement doesn’t include the North American satellite and spectrum rights, which are being sold to Dish Network by ICO’s bankrupt subsidiary DBSD. The spectrum rights are probably the most valuable piece of the purchase by Jay & Jayendra, said an analyst. The filing is at http://xrl.us/bitkwa.

LONDON -- Net neutrality can be considered a “First Amendment of the Internet,” on which limitations of free expression should be allowed only under very restricted circumstances, media and communications Professor Bart Cammaerts of the London School of Economics Media & Communications said Wednesday at the IIR Telecoms Regulation Forum. Operators shouldn’t be allowed to favor some kinds of content over others for commercial reasons, he said. Speakers generally supported allowing some traffic prioritization, but charging for it remains controversial.

Talks for new retransmission consent deals during blackouts of carriage may move more quickly when there’s little involvement from lawmakers and regulators, as shown by an eight-day dispute between Dish Network and LIN Media, broadcast executives said. The DBS provider resumed carrying 27 of the broadcaster’s stations in 17 markets March 13. The blackout didn’t last as long as a much higher profile dispute between Cablevision and News Corp.’s Fox network, which took almost twice as long to resolve. The lack of public involvement from the FCC or members of Congress, both more active on Cablevision-Fox, may have been among the reasons that Dish-LIN was resolved more quickly, said some broadcast industry officials.

AT&T’s T-Mobile deal raises the stakes for carriers seeking the 700 MHz D-block in a commercial auction, telecom industry officials and observers said Tuesday. AT&T and Verizon Wireless are the only carriers with nationwide 700 MHz holdings. The deal may bolster arguments to increase the spectrum assets of AT&T’s remaining competitors, but it may still be politically difficult for lawmakers to side against public safety, which wants the spectrum reallocated before this year’s 10th anniversary of 9/11, officials said.

Telcos aren’t directly threatened by a renewed challenge to the government’s warrantless wiretapping law, but companies could well find themselves in the middle of lawsuits yet to come, Center for Democracy and Technology Fellow Joshua Gruenspecht told us. On Monday, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in New York reinstated a lawsuit from Amnesty International and other groups challenging the 2008 FISA Amendment Act. The law gave broad authority to the U.S. to intercept international communications to prevent terrorism. It also immunized from damages telcos that cooperated with warrantless wiretaps. The case that was reinstated by Monday’s decision likely won’t see trial, but the appellate judges left open the possibility that other lawsuits could follow it and telcos could find themselves dragged into that future litigation, Gruenspecht said.

Hughes Communications received an unsolicited bid for the company from an unidentified direct competitor soon after starting negotiations on a potential sale, Hughes said in a proxy statement filed at the SEC. Hughes signed a tentative agreement in February to sell the company to EchoStar for $2 billion.

ORLANDO -- Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse said competition could be harmed if AT&T is allowed to buy T-Mobile. Hesse commented Tuesday only under prodding by Jim Cramer, the host of CNBC’s Mad Money, brought in by CTIA to host its annual CEO roundtable. “My opinion doesn’t matter,” but the opinions of the FCC and the Department of Justice do, Hesse said of the $39 billion deal. “Today, the big two,” AT&T and Verizon, “have about 67 percent market share, and if that transaction is allowed to proceed, it would be 79 market share in the hands of two just providers,” he said. “I do have concerns that it would stifle innovation.” Some in the audience applauded.