The House and Senate passed long-awaited spectrum legislation on Friday as a “pay-for” in the payroll tax cut extension bill. President Barack Obama praised the bill and was expected to sign it into law. The spectrum law (CD Feb 17 p1) authorizes the FCC to conduct voluntary incentive auctions, a recommendation from 2010’s National Broadband Plan. It also sets up national public safety wireless broadband network ten years after one was recommended by the 9/11 Commission.

The FCC’s VoIP outage reporting order will impose rules fairly analogous to the obligations facing traditional TDM voice services, industry and agency officials said Tuesday. The order, scheduled for a vote at Wednesday’s FCC meeting, will limit VoIP outage reporting requirements to hard outages of a company’s own interconnected VoIP services, the officials said. A “hard outage” refers to calls that, once originated, cannot be terminated.

The FCC is seeking comment on the costs of its proposal to extend the Disaster Information Reporting System to include interconnected VoIP providers and broadband ISPs, said a notice set to appear in Tuesday’s Federal Register. DIRS is a voluntary, Web-based system that carriers can use to report infrastructure status during a crisis. “In recent years, communications have evolved from a circuit-switched network infrastructure to broadband networks,” the notice said. “Increasing numbers of consumers, businesses, and government agencies rely on broadband and interconnected VoIP services for everyday and emergency communications needs, including vital 9-1-1 services. It is therefore imperative that the Disaster Information Reporting System be expanded to include these new technologies in order for the Commission to gain an accurate picture of communications landscape during disasters.” The FCC is slated to vote on an order extending outage reporting to interconnected VoIP service providers at its meeting Wednesday.

Congress should help upgrade 911 call centers in payroll tax cut extension legislation, said the four House and Senate co-chairs of the Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus. They sent a letter Monday to chairmen of the House-Senate conference working on the extension. Call center language was included in the House spectrum bill and subsequently the House payroll tax cut bill (HR-3630). “In fulfilling the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation for a nationwide, interoperable broadband network for first responders, it only makes sense that we equip 9-1-1 call centers with the same modern tools needed to improve the quality and speed of emergency response,” the 911 caucus co-chairs said.

Research In Motion promotes Thorsten Heins to president-CEO and board member; Former co-Chair and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis becomes vice chair of RIM’s board and chair of the board’s new Innovation Committee; Former co-Chair and co-CEO Jim Balsillie remains a member of the board … Motricity names Richard Stalzer, ex-Education Dynamics, president-mobile marketing and advertising … CBS sportscaster James Brown adds responsibility as senior adviser to Black Heritage Network … New board members at Next Generation 9-1-1 Institute: John Chiaramonte, Booz Allen; Jerry Eisner, RedSky Technologies; Woody Glover, St. Tammany Parish, La.; Todd Piett, Rave Mobile Safety; Art Prest, consultant; Alisa Simmons, Tarrant County, Texas … Maura Cope promoted to vice president, Me-TV Network … Megan Pollock departs CEA to join DKC Public Relations in Washington as vice president, policy communications … Donny Osmond to keynote NAB Show radio luncheon April 17 in Las Vegas.

Small cable operators sought limits on reporting VoIP service outages (CD Nov 23 p6). The American Cable Association discussed how the FCC should apply a threshold that commission staff have floated to require disclosing outages of at least 30 minutes affecting 900,000 user minutes. An ACA executive met with officials in the Public Safety Bureau about a rulemaking notice on broadband service interruptions. A “general VoIP subscriber outage that prevents subscribers from making any outbound calls, including to 9-1-1 calls, that lasts at least 30 minutes and affects 900,000 user minutes” should not need to be reported in as short a period of time as if special 911 facilities were involved, the ACA said. The group said it understood commission staff to say that distinguishing between such general and 911 facility outages isn’t necessary under current Part 4 rules. It said staff suggested that the agency must “ensure that it did not adopt a reporting requirement which did not clearly delineate when VoIP providers must report outages within 4 hours of discovery and when they would be afforded 24 hours after discovery to file their report.” The association’s filing was posted Friday in docket 11-82 (http://xrl.us/bmozib).

The FCC sought comment on a proposed multi-part spectrum deal between Verizon Wireless and Leap Wireless (http://xrl.us/bmkzjw). Under the transaction, Leap would get Verizon’s 700 MHz A-block license for Chicago. Leap would in turn give Verizon Wireless 23 PCS licenses and 13 AWS-1 licenses; disaggregated portions of one PCS license and one AWS-1 license; and partitioned portions of three AWS-1 licenses. In a deal announced Dec. 5, Leap is paying Verizon $204 million for the 12 MHz licensee in a key market while selling Verizon excess spectrum elsewhere for $188 million. “The Applicants state that the assignment of licenses will enable Verizon Wireless to add spectrum capacity in some markets that will help address the rapidly growing demand of its customers for broadband wireless services,” said an FCC public notice. “The Applicants also state that Leap Wireless is in need of the additional spectrum in the Chicago area to expand its service offerings and to deploy LTE network technology, which will allow it to offer improved broadband data services and to continue to compete with other carriers in that market.” Petitions to deny are due at the FCC Dec. 28, oppositions Jan. 9 and replies Jan. 17.

House Democrats will likely offer an amendment to reallocate the 700 MHz D-block when the House Communications Subcommittee marks up spectrum legislation, said Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. Eshoo and Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., co-chairs of the Congressional E-911 Caucus, also advocated their next-generation 911 bill (HR-2629) during a visit Friday morning to Washington’s 911 call center. The legislators hope their bill to fund NG911 will be included in the comprehensive spectrum bill, Eshoo said.

House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo will seek reelection in 2012, the California Democrat said Monday. First elected to Congress in 1992, she'll run in the recently redrawn 18th district. Eshoo said in a statement that she'll “fight for affordable, reliable broadband and preserving a free and open Internet” and is “committed to providing our first responders with a nationwide, interoperable communications network and improving our 9-1-1 call centers."

LightSquared presents a key early test of the Obama administration’s proposal to reallocate 500 MHz of spectrum to wireless broadband in 10 years. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski stressed in a recent briefing for reporters that any decision will be based on engineering analysis and won’t be political (CD Aug 10 p2). LightSquared demonstrates the kinds of difficulties presented by many of the bands regulators hope to convert to broadband use, said industry officials in interviews last week.