The Obama administration asked U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White to dismiss a case on the constitutionality of warrantless collection of data by the National Security Agency, arguing that a trial threatens national security. White is overseeing a case brought in San Francisco by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and others, Jewel v. NSA. Among the documents released by the government Friday was one that acknowledged that President George W. Bush authorized NSA’s bulk data collection on phones calls and the Internet in the weeks following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks (http://bit.ly/1gSAOFR). “President Bush issued authorizations approximately every 30-60 days,” wrote James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, in a post on the DNI’s Tumblr page. “Although the precise terms changed over time, each presidential authorization required the minimization of information collected concerning American citizens to the extent consistent with the effective accomplishment of the mission of detection and prevention of acts of terrorism within the United States. NSA also applied additional internal constraints on the presidentially authorized activities.” EFF criticized the administration’s claims. “Surprisingly, in these documents and in the brief filed with them, the government continues to claim that plaintiffs cannot prove they were surveilled without state secrets and that therefore, a court cannot rule on the legality or constitutionality of the surveillance,” EFF said in response (http://bit.ly/1jBE22C). “For example, despite the fact that these activities are discussed every day in news outlets around the world and even in the president’s recent press conference, the government states broadly that information that may relate to Plaintiffs’ claims that the ‘NSA indiscriminately intercepts the content of communications, and their claims regarding the NSA’s bulk collection of ... metadata’ is still a state secret."

Time Warner Cable and Tribune signed a new multi-year retransmission consent agreement for Tribune stations in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Diego and Indianapolis. “The agreement also covers Time Warner Cable’s continued distribution of Tribune’s superstation WGN America,” the companies said in a press release (http://bit.ly/JZds3K).

The FCC Media Bureau granted Pappas Arizona a “failing station” waiver, allowing it to assign the license of its station KSWT-TV, Yuma, Ariz., to Blackhawk Broadcasting. The FCC approved the application for assignment of KYMA-DT, Yuma, to Blackhawk this year, the bureau said in a letter (http://bit.ly/JWsRkS). The combined operation of the stations will pose minimal harm to diversity and competition and allowing KSWT to operate in tandem with a stronger station “will help it to become a more viable local voice in the market, through a definite improvement in facilities and programming,” it said.

The multiyear iPhone deal that Apple signed with China Mobile will also have “implications” for Sprint, Wells Fargo Senior Analyst Jennifer Fritzsche said Monday. The iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c will be available via China Mobile’s network of retail stores and at Apple retail stores across mainland China starting Jan. 17, Apple said Sunday in a news release. It’s “clearly a meaningful” announcement for Apple, said Fritzsche. China Mobile is the world’s largest mobile operator, with more than 760 million customers, making it seven times larger than Verizon, she said. China Mobile, like Sprint, is deploying the TDD LTE 4G service on the 2.5 GHz spectrum, she said. Until now, the iPhone hasn’t supported the 2.5 GHz band, she said. With the “significant scale” that China Mobile “brings to the table, it is our understanding that future versions of the iPhone device will now support this band,” she said. That’s a “significant positive” for Sprint shares, she said. Apple, however, didn’t immediately comment on its plans. Of the “Big 4” carriers, Sprint is the only one using the TDD version of LTE, she said. The iPhone “continues to be the most embraced high end” smartphone in the U.S., so having the device support the spectrum band and the TDD LTE technology “should strengthen Sprint’s competitive position in future quarters,” she said. Sprint shares, however, closed 1.8 percent lower Monday at $9.68.

The FCC should expand the kinds of spectrum included in its screen to evaluate potential spectrum concentration issues, Verizon officials said in a meeting with FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly. The FCC should update the screen “to include all suitable and available spectrum,” said an ex parte filing on the meeting (http://bit.ly/1jBGbv4). “They noted that Sprint is aggressively deploying its 2.5 GHz Broadband Radio Service and Educational Broadband Service spectrum to provide 4G LTE service, confirming that this spectrum must be added to the screen. The Commission should also add to the screen the 40 MHz of AWS-4 spectrum held by Dish. As it stands today, the spectrum screen cannot provide a meaningful tool to evaluate potential spectrum concentration issues because it omits substantial amounts of spectrum that are available for, and are actually being used to provide, commercial mobile broadband services."

Members of the President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee Jan. 14 on the group’s recommendations for changing U.S. surveillance law, committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said Sunday. The group’s set of 46 recommendations, released last week, included recommending that the government no longer store phone metadata on U.S. citizens (CD Dec 19 p4). The group’s recommendations “make clear that it is time to recalibrate our government’s surveillance programs,” Leahy said in a statement. “Momentum is building for real reform.” Several of the group’s recommendations align with Leahy’s USA Freedom Act (S-1599), the committee said.

Neustar added area code 854 for portions of South Carolina served by the existing 843 code, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator said in a news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1ienhsG). Neustar had forecast that numbers in the 843 area code would be exhausted by the end of 2015, it said.

The FCC Wireless Bureau asked for comments on a waiver request by ClearRF, which manufactures cell-signal boosters. The company asked for six to 10 months to sell boosters that don’t conform to rules that take effect March 1. Comments are due Jan. 14, replies Jan. 21, said a Monday public notice (http://bit.ly/18Ip0Ds). “ClearRF’s Dual-Band Cellular Signal Amplifiers allow you to receive improved cellular signal on your phone, air card, laptop, cellular router, or any cellular device, wherever you happen to need it; your vehicle, boat, desktop workspace, or RV,” according to the company’s website (clearrf.com).

Comments on a further FCC rulemaking notice on matters left over from the commission’s rulemaking on accessibility rules for user interfaces and programming guides are due Feb. 18, and replies March 20, according to Friday’s Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/1chY9im). The accessibility rules for user interfaces and programming guides adopted by the commission in October (CD Nov 1 p2) take effect Jan. 14, said the same issue of the Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/1l1PNLg). The FNPRM seeks comment on whether the commission should adopt a specific definition of the word “usable” for implementing user interface rules from the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, and how entities covered by those rules should be required to notify consumers of accessibility options. The FNPRM also asks for comments on whether the FCC has the authority to compel pay-TV providers to provide detailed channel and programming information, including symbols identifying accessibility options and whether manufacturers should make the secondary audio stream used for emergency information available through a single “button, key or icon."

Alcatel-Lucent said it’s selling its LGS Innovations subsidiary to a Madison Dearborn Partners-led investor group that also includes CoVant. LGS Innovations provides secure networking, satellite communications, VoIP, optical routers and other services to U.S. government clients, Alcatel-Lucent said Friday. The deal, which could cost the investment group up to $200 million in cash, is expected to close in Q1. The deal is part of Alcatel-Lucent’s larger divestment plan, in which the company is seeking to reposition itself as a specialist in IP networking and Ultra-Broadband access. Alcatel-Lucent expects the divestment plan will reduce its fixed cost structure by 1 billion euros (http://bit.ly/JK6f74).