Four months after the FCC approved final white spaces rules Sept. 23, the Office of Engineering and Technology said nine companies have been selected as geolocation database providers. The order was announced quietly, compared to the fanfare that marked the September order. But it marks a critical step toward the sale of the first devices designed to use the TV band to surf the Internet.

MetroPCS will file a legal challenge to the FCC’s Dec. 21 net neutrality order in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the carrier said. The lawsuit is patterned on Verizon’s challenge filed last week in the same court (CD Jan 21 p1). The company filed a notice of appeal through its law firm Paul, Hastings.

MetroPCS will file a legal challenge to the FCC’s Dec. 21 net neutrality order in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the carrier said. The lawsuit is patterned on Verizon’s challenge filed last week in the same court. The company filed a notice of appeal through its law firm Paul, Hastings.

Verizon said late Thursday it filed a notice of appeal to the net neutrality order of Dec. 21, of which it had repeatedly signaled its opposition, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The telco filed even before the order was published in the Federal Register.

Verizon said late Thursday it filed a notice of appeal to the net neutrality order of Dec. 21, of which it had repeatedly signaled its opposition, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The telco filed even before the order was published in the Federal Register.

Any efforts to fight the U.S. government’s conditional approval of Comcast’s acquisition of control of NBC Universal would face hurdles, and challenges seem unlikely at first glance to be made, those who had sought more conditions agreed with one who opposed them. A hurdle is that the Justice Department and FCC imposed similar Internet conditions (CD Jan 19 p1) , and DOJ’s probably would stand even in the unlikely event that a lawsuit against the commission succeeded, said several lawyers who had sought more deal curbs. Judges who review consent decrees, such as the one that Comcast agreed to with DOJ, usually approve them, even if parties seek changes through written comments that they can submit to the court under the Tunney Act, the nonprofit group lawyers said.

The U.S. government is making Comcast fulfill several Web conditions to complete its purchase of control in NBC Universal from General Electric and form a new joint venture with GE. The FCC and Justice Department said they're barring the cable operator, in its role as an ISP, from discriminating against competing content. A condition from the commission -- which some see as a form of net neutrality (CD Jan 12 p4) -- prohibits Comcast from giving priority on its broadband network to its content over competitors’, FCC officials said.

The U.S. government is making Comcast fulfill several web conditions to complete its purchase of control in NBC Universal from General Electric and form a new joint venture with GE. The FCC and Justice Department said they're barring the cable operator, in its role as an ISP, from discriminating against competing content. A condition from the commission that some see as a form of net neutrality (WID Jan 12 p4) prohibits Comcast from giving priority on its broadband network to its programming over competitors’, FCC officials said.

Republican commissioners didn’t get some briefings by FCC staffers reviewing Comcast’s deal to buy control of NBC Universal, in the months leading up to Chairman Julius Genachowski’s sending a draft order to approve the agreement to his colleagues for a vote, commission officials said. Though Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Michael Copps got many substantive updates throughout the deal’s review, Commissioners Meredith Baker and Robert McDowell didn’t get them, though they did hear some more topical details such as about the review’s timing. They didn’t explicitly ask for such in-depth briefings, and they weren’t offered, some commission officials said, although all FCC members were kept updated on timing of the deal’s review.

Five public interest groups led by Free Press said the FCC should investigate MetroPCS’s recently announced low-cost data plan, which would apparently preclude users from using Skype, Netflix and other popular services (CD Jan 5 p1). But customers would be able to watch YouTube videos. The Center for Media Justice, the Media Access Project, New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative and Presente.org signed the letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.