Public Knowledge, which has informally asked the FCC’s Wireline and Wireless bureaus to investigate usage-based data caps, is considering formally asking for an investigation, Legal Director Harold Feld said in an interview Wednesday. “The longer this issue persists the more likely we are to do it,” Feld said of filing a formal complaint.

Public Knowledge, which has informally asked the FCC’s Wireline and Wireless bureaus to investigate usage-based data caps, is considering formally asking for an investigation, Legal Director Harold Feld said in an interview Wednesday. “The longer this issue persists the more likely we are to do it,” Feld said of filing a formal complaint.

New numbers compiled by UBS show what could be a troublesome trend for the FCC, with Verizon Wireless and AT&T continuing strong subscriber growth, as Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile fall further behind. The numbers, gathered from the most recent company reports, come as the FCC prepares the 2012 version of the Wireless Competition Report. The agency is also likely to consider rules that could potentially limit Verizon and AT&T participation in upcoming spectrum auctions, including the eventual voluntary incentive auction of broadcast spectrum.

Verizon’s plan to buy AWS licenses from SpectrumCo and Cox, and marketing agreements tied to the deal, are running into opposition similar to opposition that aimed at AT&T’s failed bid to buy T-Mobile. But this time around T-Mobile is leading the charge, with Sprint Nextel also emerging once again as a prominent opponent. Public interest groups and other competitors also filed petitions to deny.

The spectrum provisions in the payroll tax extension will only get the Obama administration part of the way toward finding 500 MHz for wireless broadband. The legislation won’t free up nearly as much spectrum as expected, industry and government officials said. The FCC National Broadband Plan projected that voluntary incentive auctions of broadcast spectrum would yield 120 MHz for broadband. That figure appears now to be down to 60-80 MHz, with a big chunk of the 120 MHz lost in part because of language sought by the NAB protecting TV station signals along the Canadian and Mexican borders, industry and government officials said.

Low-power FM radio advocates asked aides to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to move quickly in resolving a pending rulemaking on the topic, an ex parte notice disclosing the meeting shows. Prometheus Radio Project’s Brandy Doyle and Media Access Project’s Andrew Schwartzman told Genachowski aide Jessica Almond that they support the FCC’s translator processing plan, which would let frequencies for LPFM stations in population centers comply with the Local Community Radio Act, the notice said. “In addition to the dismissal of translator applications in some markets, national and market caps on translator applications are also needed to ensure LPFM availability,” the notice said. And LPFM applicants need ample notice to prepare before a filing window is opened after the rulemaking process ends, the notice said. “These groups will need adequate time to learn about the filing opportunity, commit to participate, find available frequencies and develop their applications,” it said. A minimum of six to nine months of notice is needed, it said. Two LPFM items circulated at the FCC Jan. 27, according to the FCC’s list of items on circulation.

Spectrum conditions restricting the sale or lease of Dish Network’s S-band spectrum to other wireless carriers are very unlikely at this point, said FCC and industry officials. The FCC approval of Harbinger Capital Partners’ purchase of SkyTerra, which created LightSquared, included conditions requiring agency approval for spectrum deals with the top two carriers. Public interest groups have sought similar conditions for Dish. The FCC is reviewing Dish’s request to control the S-band spectrum and use it for terrestrial service.

Officials behind SpectrumCo will face questions from the FCC Wireless Bureau after Comcast Chief Financial Officer Michael Angelakis told investors at a Citigroup conference that the company never planned to build out the AWS spectrum licenses it purchased in the 2006 auction. The questions are expected to come as part of the bureau’s analysis of Verizon Wireless’s pending buy of the licenses from SpectrumCo, FCC officials said Wednesday. Comcast likely will be asked to explain the comment in the initial interrogatory the bureau sends Comcast as it looks more closely at the deal, agency officials said.

The FCC misunderstood AT&T’s objections to remarks last week by Chairman Julius Genachowski over how much authority the agency should have to set the rules for incentive spectrum auctions, Senior Vice President Robert Quinn said in a blog. Quinn said AT&T’s primary concern is that the company not be excluded from bidding in upcoming auctions because of its large size relative to other carriers.

Supreme Court justices limited discussion of First Amendment issues on the government’s appeal of a lower court ruling against the FCC finding indecent a single curseword or incident of nudity on broadcast TV. Oral argument Tuesday mainly focused on how the agency’s so-called fleeting indecency policy squared with the high court’s landmark Pacifica decision, which allowed the commission to censure indecent content on terrestrial radio and TV. The 1969 Red Lion case involving spectrum scarcity didn’t come up, conforming with expectations (CD June 28 p1).