The FCC Thurs. approved a rulemaking proposing that wireless carriers be required to improve their systems so they can more accurately locate subscribers who make 911 calls. The FCC also began an examination of whether carriers should have to report by PSAP, rather than by statewide averaging, how they perform in reaching emergency callers rather than through statewide averaging. PSAP reporting is more lenient and is favored by carriers. The Commission is also examining requirements for VoIP providers.

LodgeNet wants to buy back some bonds. It offered to buy $200 million in 9-1/2% notes due 2013. The tender offer ends 8 a.m. April 23. LodgeNet also is asking to get out of some original debt covenants on notes not tendered. That consent solicitation expires 5 p.m. April 9. LodgeNet will pay for the notes by drawing on the term loan component of an existing credit facility, raising that debt package to $625 million from $400 million.

DirecTV expects to have 9 million subscribers by 2008 for its advanced set-top box HD and PVR platforms, as penetration nears 50%, Investor Relations Vp Jonathan Rubin told last week’s PacificCrest Digital Media & Entertainment conference in N.Y. That’s up from last year’s 5 million subscribers, or 30% penetration, split between PVR (3 million) and HD (2 million), Rubin said.

The FCC is unlikely to grant petitions to deny TV license renewals to 28 stations in 3 markets if recent history is any guide, said a lawyer for groups asking the FCC to act based on claims the broadcasters aired little local political news (CD Dec 27 p6). In the latest petition to deny, Ore. Alliance to Reform Media asked the Media Bureau to designate licenses of 8 stations in and around Portland, Ore., for a hearing before an administrative law judge. The FCC hasn’t taken that step for at least a decade, said attorney Andrew Schwartzman. If the bureau decided a petition merited a hearing, it would likely seek a vote of the full Commission, even though it could act under delegated authority, he said: “Hearing designations are so rare that if the bureau found merit to consider designating a hearing, they would almost certainly bounce it to the full Commission.”

Adelphia has won many municipal approvals for its cable system sell-off, moving the bankrupt company a step closer to finishing the $17 billion deal. In the final FCC action on the deal, late Fri. the agency released its order approving the takeover, which had been voted on 4-1 (CD July 14 p1). Local franchise authorities in most areas where it’s selling cable systems approved the transfers to Time Warner and Comcast, officials with Adelphia and cities involved in the deal said. Comcast and Time Warner cleared another local hurdle, agreeing Thurs. to a $3.5 million settlement with Minneapolis, ending a lengthy dispute over franchise terms (CD June 7 p15).

AT&T said its plan to sell u-Verse IPTV in Little Rock was approved 9-1 by the city’s board of directors late Tues. The ordinance lets the company use public rights of way to sell IPTV, said a board meeting agenda. AT&T will pay 5% of “gross subscription revenue” under the 3-year deal, said a company spokesman. The agreement doesn’t mean the firm has changed its stance that municipal franchises aren’t needed to sell IPTV, the official told us: “This is not a cable franchise. This is not a video franchise. This is an addition to our agreement that we already have with the city on telecom service” on rights of way, he said. U-Verse will be offered to city residents in 2007, he said. - JM

LAS VEGAS -- NAB Pres. David Rehr ripped a proposal to change retransmission consent by Rep. Deal (R-Ga.) using the opening keynote here to tell broadcasters to fight it. Deal plans to introduce an amendment Wed. during a House Commerce Committee telecom bill markup “to put broadcasters at a significant disadvantage,” Rehr said. He asked station executives to e-mail members of the committee, of which the congressman is a member, “with a loud and clear message: ‘This Deal is a bad deal.”

Bills addressing E-911 funding bases, wireless services, and regulatory administration came into the state legislative spotlight as 2006 sessions entered their 2nd month. Those issues shared attention with bills on phone consumer privacy, VoIP taxation and telemarketing.

AT&T (formerly SBC) and CLECs XO and NuVox asked the Ohio PUC to reconsider portions of a Nov. 9 order that resolved dozens of disputes over changes to interconnection agreements to conform to the FCC’s various Triennial Review Orders (Case 05-887-TP-UNC). AT&T asked the PUC to reconsider a decision allowing CLECs to continue paying discounted rates for embedded high- capacity UNE facilities through the end of the applicable FCC transition periods even if CLECs agreed to alternative arrangements at market-based prices before the transition period was up. FCC rules establish transition periods of up to 18 months for embedded high capacity digital loops, transport and dark fiber when cost-based unbundling is no longer required in a wire center due to adequate wholesale competition. AT&T also wanted reconsideration of a decision to limit application of FCC rules regarding fiber loop unbundling at individual customer premises to mass market customers only. AT&T said the PUC is reading something into the FCC orders that isn’t there. Meanwhile, the 2 CLECs wanted reconsideration of PUC decisions to allow AT&T unilateral authority to set interim rates for routine network modifications on a basis other than TELRIC without PUC review, and adopting AT&T language putting a 10-circuit cap on the number of DS-1 circuits connected at a premises entrance facility.

Viacom, set to split off its CBS unit, would suffer under a family tier structure pushed by some lawmakers and FCC Chmn. Martin, said an analyst. Industry may unveil details on such a tier today (Mon.), cable sources told us last week (CD Dec 9 p6). “Concern regarding a ‘family’ tier of cable networks lends some uncertainty to growth potential at new Viacom,” wrote Stanford Group’s Fred Moran in an investor bulletin: “Should enough cable TV subscribers opt for a family tier which excludes MTV and VH-1, both subscription and advertising revenues at the Viacom cable networks could be impaired.” Shares of the split-off Viacom unit have risen since they began trading separately (CD Dec 6 p12), while CBS has declined, said Moran.