AT&T and DirecTV submitted additional data to the FCC to buttress the merger simulation model the companies filed June 11 (http://bit.ly/U47JOz) (CD June 13 p3). As part of their arguments, the companies included an economic review of the deal by Michael Katz, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley. The Tuesday filing (http://bit.ly/TT3oxo) in docket 14-90 adds to the information already submitted by Katz, according to the filing, but none of the data was made public.

The FCC fined Houston cable operator TV Max $2.25 million for retransmitting the signals of six Houston area full-power TV stations without their permission, said a forfeiture order released in Tuesday’s Daily Digest (http://bit.ly/1oxD5Gz). TV Max previously had retransmission consent agreements with the stations involved, but continued to retransmit their signals after the agreements expired, said the order and a previous notice of apparent liability (CD June 26/13 p7). The cable operator continued to retransmit the signals despite being contacted by the stations, and being ordered to cease by the Media Bureau in December 2012, the order said. TV Max continued to retransmit the stations through June 2013 “using the spin-off of its Houston cable operations and fiber network to two related companies under its common ownership and control in an apparent effort to evade responsibility,” the order said. TV Max argued that it was allowed to retransmit the stations using the master antenna television (MATV) exception, though it admitted to retransmitting from a cable headend while it waited to install master antennas in the apartment buildings it serves, the forfeiture order said. In a 2012 Notice of Apparent Liability, the bureau said TV Max’s retransmission did not fall under the MATV exception. TV Max broke retrans rules for a year and with signals from six stations, an “egregious” violation that would have resulted in a fine of almost $16.5 million under a “straightforward application of the base forfeiture amount,” the order said. The amount was reduced because of TV Max’s small size, though the bureau rejected TV Max arguments that the fine should be further reduced (CD Aug 2 p16), the order said. This may not be the last fine for TV Max, as its online channel lineup showed it still retransmitting broadcast signals as of June 18, the order said. “TV Max’s continued carriage of the broadcast Stations’ signals without the Stations’ retransmission consent ... constitutes further violations that will potentially subject TV Max to additional enforcement sanctions.” The company is required to submit a written statement within 30 days “signed under penalty of perjury” declaring it has stopped illegally retransmitting without consent, the order said. TV Max had no immediate comment Tuesday.

Streaming TV service FilmOn will begin offering content from Voice of America, FilmOn announced Monday in a news release. FilmOn, a competitor to Aereo, is the first “global IPTV provider” to carry VOA content, the release said. FilmOn will offer VOA’s English content on its own channel, and will also offer a channel of VOA in Persian, the official language of Iran, it said. According to the release, FilmOn’s streaming service is “a legal and convenient alternative” to Aereo, which suspended operations last month following its loss at the Supreme Court (CD June 26 p1).

The Supreme Court’s Aereo decision (CD June 26 p1) applied only to the aspect of the company’s product that allowed viewers to stream broadcast content nearly live, not to its remote DVR service, said Guggenheim Partners analyst Paul Gallant in an email to investors Monday. That means Aereo could argue that any subsequent injunctions sought by broadcasters in lower courts based on the high court opinion also don’t apply to the DVR service, he said. “If Aereo did that, a new round of briefs and perhaps a full trial would be required to determine whether such a service was sufficiently cable-like to warrant the same shutdown treatment.” However, such a court battle could potentially last years, likely testing the patience and fortitude of Aereo’s investors, he said. Such a move could also be pre-empted by broadcasters seeking summary judgment and large damage awards, Gallant said. “Should the court grant summary judgment and then a large damage award against Aereo, broadcasters would have significant leverage over Aereo ever refashioning itself as a delayed-basis TV service.” Legislation in Aereo’s favor is unlikely, and its Supreme Court loss likely reduces Democratic legislators’ leverage over broadcasters, Gallant said. “Had broadcasters needed to ask for help on Aereo, we believe some Democrats would have insisted that broadcasters accept a ‘no blackout’ provision during retrans negotiations as a condition for an Aereo fix.” Aereo could ask the FCC to designate it a multichannel video programming distributor, but even if that were granted, Aereo would need broadcasters to sell it content and a compulsory copyright license to operate, Gallant said. “The U.S. Copyright Office has been very reluctant to consider Internet-based companies as eligible for that license."

The Satellite Industry Association met with the FCC on further modifications that could be made to streamline Part 25 rules and reduce regulatory burdens on the satellite industry. SIA focused on issues like ITU filings for satellites, the commission’s two-degree spacing rules, and “streamlined processing of some space station and earth station modifications,” it said in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 12-267 (http://bit.ly/TRphxc). The filing pertained to a meeting with executives from EchoStar, Inmarsat and the International Bureau.

Iridium and SpaceX successfully completed dispenser qualification testing for the upcoming Iridium Next constellation. The testing program included a fit check, separation and shock testing and static loads testing, Iridium said Thursday in a news release (http://bit.ly/ViM1ao). SpaceX will deliver most of satellites for the constellation into their low earth orbit, Iridium said.

Inmarsat chose SpaceX to provide launch services for its S-band satellite launch and up to two more Inmarsat missions. Inmarsat plans to use the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle, “but will retain the possibility of using a Falcon 9 as an alternative, providing further launch flexibility,” it said Wednesday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1qRiAHw).

Communications Daily won’t be published Friday, July 4, in observance of the federal Independence Day holiday. Our next issue will be July 7.

ViaSat and Eutelsat signed an agreement to enable service access and roaming on each other’s high-capacity satellite networks. The service area will span North America, Europe and the Mediterranean Basin, ViaSat said Tuesday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1nZyTOg). Customers will be able to operate an array of fixed and mobile services, including in-flight connectivity, maritime and emergency relief anywhere within the combined coverage areas, it said.

Intelsat and Gilat signed a multiyear, multi-transponder agreement for Ku-band capacity to deliver broadband connectivity in rural parts of Colombia. Gilat will use capacity on Intelsat 907 for a Colombian Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications three-year digital project, Intelsat said Monday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1izCaHU). Gilat plans to integrate its SkyEdge II WebEnhance data networking platform with Intelsat’s services “to provide Internet connectivity to 1,903 kiosks within rural communities located in Colombia,” Intelsat said.