The election of China’s Houlin Zhao as ITU secretary-general was applauded by ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade, in an ICANN news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/1DFCco4). Zhao’s support was “punctuated by the fact that he obtained 152 votes of the 156 countries that were present and voting in the election,” he said. Chehade said he has a "shared belief" with Zhao’s predecessor, Hamadoun Toure, that the "Internet has an increasingly important role in global socioeconomic development ... We are enthused at the prospect of continuing those efforts with Houlin Zhao." Zhao will take over Jan. 1, when Toure's term ends.

The Advanced Media Workflow Association disclosed changes in its membership, in written notifications filed with the U.S. attorney general and the FTC, said a Justice Department notice in Wednesday's Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/1ylmueC). Canon U.S.A., Swedish companies Vizrt and Kista, and John Fleming of Australia were added to the organization, while EMC, Encompass, The Weather Co., Andreas Georg Stasheit of Germany and Jone Lee of South Korea withdrew from the association, the notice said.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Industry Canada Senior Assistant Deputy Minister Kelly Gillis signed an agreement that will allow public safety officials in both countries to use handheld radios when they cross the border, the FCC said Tuesday. The agreement expands on a 1952 treaty that allowed only for cross-border use of radios installed in public safety vehicles, the FCC said. The new agreement also allows a public safety official to operate a radio across the border without a permit provided the official is licensed in his country of origin, the FCC said (http://bit.ly/ZMWUDj).

The Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT) completed its auction of 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum licenses Monday, EETT said. All three Greek carriers, Cosmote, Vodafone and Wind Hellas, bought spectrum, said a release from the regulator (http://bit.ly/1wA1QpH). The highest prices were paid for the 800 MHz spectrum blocks. All three carriers bought a single 2 x 5 MHz block for just over 51.5 million euros. Bidding lasted 10 rounds.

The European Commission freed two markets in the telecom industry from regulation. The retail market for access to fixed telephony and the wholesale market for fixed call origination were deregulated due to a decrease in volume of fixed calls as customers have turned to alternative solutions and providers, said the EU Thursday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1yb0kyv). Customers who still use fixed telephony “are now able to purchase fixed access from a number of different platforms,” like fiber or cable networks, it said. The EC also redefined two broadband markets “to limit regulatory burdens to what is strictly necessary for competitive broadband access and investment,” it said. The new rules recognize that “virtual access products” can be considered substitutes to physical unbundling when they fulfill certain characteristics, it said.

EU findings that ISPs there aren’t violating net neutrality rules despite “fear mongering on behalf of net neutrality proponents” also have implications in the U.S., said Roslyn Layton, visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute’s Center for Internet, Communications and Technology Policy, in a blog post Tuesday. Layton cited a news release last week from the EU (http://bit.ly/1xlOBdc). EU investigators did a thorough search, raiding the offices of Deutsche Telekom, Orange and Telefonica in July “during an unannounced investigation of the Internet and mobile service providers’ traffic management practices,” she said. “The EU Commission should be recognized for conducting a proper investigation of traffic management practices as part of its net neutrality rulemaking,” she wrote (http://bit.ly/1nYwfyZ). “When the evidence does not exist to support the proposed regulation, then the regulation should not be implemented. It’s a lesson just as important for the EU as it is for the US."

Parties to the Information Technology Agreement should come together in the coming weeks to broker an expansion deal before the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Beijing, said associations in a Sunday statement (http://bit.ly/1pCRhwU). Groups including CEA, the CompTIA, Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition, DigitalEurope and Entertainment Software Association said the expansion deal would eliminate tariffs on more IT products, and “help restore confidence” in the World Trade Organization, following the recent collapse of the Trade Facilitation Agreement. The U.S. and China are two of the 70 nations involved in the expansion talks, but each side blames the other for not putting appropriate concessions on the table. “For the past several years, APEC leaders have repeatedly called for swift conclusion of a balanced and commercially significant outcome to these negotiations,” said the statement. “Product expansion of the ITA, as well as expansion of geographic scope of the agreement would yield immediate and substantial benefits, removing tariffs on a vast array of tech products.” Despite many IT industry developments in recent years, the ITA hasn’t broadened its list of duty-exempt products since its launch in 1996. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman has called for the expansion talks to wrap up by November. The location of the APEC meeting may help break the U.S.-China deadlock, said John Neuffer, senior vice president-global policy at the Information Technology Industry Council, in a blog post Sunday (http://bit.ly/10fsbiV). “As host to APEC this year, China will likely want to trumpet noteworthy trade deliverables when the leaders meet in Beijing this November,” said Neuffer. “And China should want to reaffirm its support for the WTO. ITA expansion stands out as the most likely -- and most significant -- among the potential trade deliverables.” CEA President Gary Shapiro said in a statement Monday that 82 signatories globally, representing tens of thousands of businesses, “are rallying together to support trade negotiators from all member economies in the ITA.” It marks an “opportunity now to come together, bridge gaps and finalize this negotiation so that a huge win may be announced in Beijing at the November APEC ... meeting,” Shapiro said. The ITA hasn’t been updated since its creation 16 years ago, CEA said. An expanded ITA “could remove tariffs on an estimated additional $800 billion in information and communication technology trade globally,” it said.

The U.S. National Public Safety Telecommunications Council and the Canadian Interoperability Technology Interest Group scheduled a workshop in Windsor, Ontario, Oct. 20-22 on “gaps” in voice and data interoperability facing first responders (http://bit.ly/1t2MPtp). “Ensuring security and safety along the Canada-U.S border is a shared challenge for both Canada and the United States that requires collaboration and coordination between the two nations,” the groups said. “To be successful, personnel from both countries require the ability to exchange voice and data communications in real-time and across disciplines and jurisdictions in an effective and timely manner."

Intel will invest up to $1.5 billion for 20 percent ownership of the Chinese holding company Tsinghua Unigroup to expand the adoption of Intel-based mobile devices in China, Intel said Thursday (http://intel.ly/1okrHNU). Tsinghua Unigroup owns Spreadtrum Communications and RDA Microelectronics, Chinese fabless semiconductor makers that produce mobile chipsets for smartphones and other CE products, Intel said. “China is now the largest consumption market for smartphones and has the largest number of Internet users in the world,” said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich in a news release. The partnership with Tsinghua Unigroup will “enhance our ability to support a wider range of mobile customers in China and the rest of the world by more quickly delivering a broader portfolio of Intel architecture and communications technology solutions,” he said. To begin, Intel and Spreadtrum will jointly create a line of Intel-based system-on-chips for smartphones that both companies will sell starting in 2015’s second half, Intel said.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative seeks comment by Oct. 24 on Internet forums and physical markets outside the U.S. that should be included in USTR’s notorious markets list, which includes markets that are involved in copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting. Comment via www.regulations.gov using docket USTR-2014-0017, said USTR in a notice set to appear in Friday’s Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/1suBatg).