The House passed the 9/11 Commission report 371-40 Friday that includes provisions upgrading the nation’s 911 systems and allocating $400 million beginning in FY 2009 for interoperable emergency communications and a dedicated interoperability grant program. The grants, managed by the Department of Homeland Security, would require annual reports to Congress on state progress toward implementing interoperability plans. The Senate passed the bill late Thursday and it now goes to the President to be signed.

Congress should build 911 awareness nationwide with a “National 9-1-1 Education Month,” said Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D- Calif.). Congressional E-911 Caucus co-chairs Eshoo and Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) Thursday unveiled H.R. 537, which would designate one month each year to educating Americans about 911 services through events, ad campaigns, school presentations and parent and teacher training. The bill aims especially at children, seniors, the hearing-impaired, those with limited English and other “vulnerable populations,” said Eshoo. Its passage would reduce inappropriate 911 use and stress on the 911 system from technological change, said Gregory Rohde, executive director of the E-911 Institute. The bill is a “silver bullet” in a comprehensive E-911 approach, Eshoo said. Along with 16 House cosponsors, the bill has backing by the E-911 Institute, National Emergency Number Association, National Association of State 9-1-1 Administrators, Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, CTIA, 9-11 for Kids and Comcare. Those groups have adopted resolutions designating April for the 911 campaign.

New executive board members at the National Emergency Number Association: President Jason Barbour, Johnson County, N.C.; First Vice President Ronald Bonneau, SouthCom Dispatch; Second Vice President Craig Whittington, Guilford Metro 9-1-1… As a result the planned retirement of Disney- ABC Worldwide TV President Laurie Younger, Ben Pyne is promoted to president of global distribution, and David Preschlack to executive vice president of affiliate sales, Disney and ESPN Networks… CBS promotes Aaron Radin to senior vice president, ad sales and business development, CBS TV Stations Digital Media Group… Kent Schneider, ex- Northrop Grumman, becomes president and CEO of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association.

The FCC asked Liberty Media and News Corp. for additional information so the commission can consider their $11 billion asset swap of a controlling stake in DirecTV. The companies were asked to provide copies of national sports programming agreements and documents involving three regional sports networks Liberty will get from News Corp. as part of the deal. The FCC is reviewing News Corp.’s proposal to transfer its 38.5 percent stake in DirecTV to News Corp. Some cable companies want the Commission to curb exclusive sports deals between Liberty and News Corp. as part of approving the deal (CD March 27 p2). The companies have until July 9 to respond to the request for information, said June 15 letters to lawyers for Liberty and News Corp. The data request resembles one made by the FCC of Comcast and Time Warner as part of reviewing their $17.6 billion takeover of Adelphia. Commissioners approved the cable deal 4-1 in July.

Qualcomm said it will join wireless carriers in asking the U.S. Appeals Court, Federal Circuit, to stay an International Trade Commission order banning import of new wireless handsets with Qualcomm chips held to infringe a Broadcom patent. Qualcomm also will ask President Bush to veto the decision, the company said. CTIA blasted the move as bad for consumers, saying it will slow 3G network rollouts. COMCARE and the Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials said the order will hurt efforts to make 911 more accurate. ITC in a “split-the-baby decision” Thurs. said the ban will apply to future handset models (CD June 8 p8), but not those already being imported.

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).