The FCC is overdue to act on a program access complaint by Verizon against Cablevision, the telco said. It said the agency was supposed to have acted at least three months ago on Verizon’s request for access to the two HD versions of the cable operator’s New York area regional sports networks. A deadline to act in five months, which the FCC created 13 years ago in carrying out the 1992 Cable Act, “has long since passed,” Verizon Deputy General Counsel Michael Glover wrote Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake on Wednesday. Commission and industry officials had expected final action on complaints against Cablevision by Verizon and AT&T to be taken by now (CD June 29 p6).

Cutting special access rates in half would raise wages as much as $4.8 billion, create up to 101,000 jobs and add $11.8 billion to $12.4 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product, a study commissioned by Sprint Nextel reported Tuesday. Revenue from special access charges brought AT&T, Qwest and Verizon $18 billion in 2007, nearly double the 2000 figure, the study said. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s staff is drafting a public notice seeking comprehensive data on the special access market and hopes to move to rulemaking or even orders this year, a commission official said.

Receiver performance standards will become an increasingly significant issue as the FCC looks at how to make more efficient use of the spectrum, unless industry steps forward to make receivers work better, former FCC and NTIA official Dale Hatfield said Tuesday at the Catholic University of America’s communications symposium. Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp said the FCC continues to look closely at questions about receiver performance.

The FCC should auction the 700 MHz D block if legislation isn’t soon passed about what to do with that spectrum, said Commissioner Robert McDowell, who has long supported selling that spectrum. He said the commission also should act on its own to further the development of white spaces devices, if Congress doesn’t soon pass legislation allowing the agency to hold an incentive auction. Speaking at an event sponsored by Catholic University, McDowell touched on another issue where he’s long been active at the FCC: Getting unlicensed devices on the market that use the spaces between TV channels.

Increased integration of satellite and terrestrial services appears to be the next step for satellite companies, satellite industry CEOs said Tuesday on a Satellite 2011 conference panel in Washington, D.C.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Media companies and advertisers are frustrated with the variety of data vendors selling Web analytics information, each with its own methods and practices, said executives with Turner Broadcasting and MTV Networks during a panel at the eMetrics Summit late Monday. MTV Networks has put a task force together to audition new social media monitoring vendors, said Shari Cleary, vice president of digital media research for entertainment and games. When the company ultimately selects one to work with, “I'm sure we'll be questioned about why we didn’t go with another,” she said.

NCTA hired Michael Powell as president and CEO, the cable association confirmed Tuesday. That ended several months of speculation that the former Republican chairman of the FCC would get the top job at NCTA. Kyle McSlarrow is vacating that position at month’s end to work for Comcast. Powell will leave Providence Equity Partners, where he’s a senior adviser, to start at NCTA on April 25. He'll have his hands full trying to keep cable operators and programmers, including Comcast, in harmony on issues proving somewhat divisive, industry officials said. Those issues include net neutrality and retransmission consent deals, cable executives have said (CD March 10 p4).

For the most part, undersea communications cables appeared to have held up through the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan, though parts of the networks remained out of service Monday. Two segments of a trans-Pacific network were out of service and at least two other cables were damaged.

AT&T will cap Internet usage among its DSL and U-Verse customers and will charge customers who go over their monthly limits, it was announced Monday. Landline customers will be capped at 150 GB per month and U-Verse usage will be capped at 250 GB. For every 50 GB in excess usage, customers will be charged $10. The new pricing scheme begins May 2. In response, Free Press called for a Congressional investigation. AT&T said in a release that the new rate structure will only affect 2 percent of its customers. The plan takes effect May 2.

The FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) wrapped up its work Monday, approving a report recommending a blue ribbon panel to consider how to pay for upgrading 911. CSRIC also approved a report making 397 recommendations for cybersecurity best practices.