New FCC ex parte rules were violated at least 11 times since taking effect June 1, a Communications Daily review of all filings and the agency’s own checks found. Some filings were made late -- from a day in many instances to a few weeks -- and others didn’t contain enough information on what was discussed during lobbying meetings. The filings were made by companies and associations big and small. They covered proceedings ranging from changing the Universal Service Fund to pay for broadband deployment to retransmission consent, ISP speeds, disabilities access legislation passed in 2010 and getting low-power TV stations to fully vacate the 700 MHz band for wireless broadband in the small portion they occupy.

The FCC will let AT&T and Deutsche Telekom withdraw their merger application, while at the same time releasing the staff memo that gave failing grades to AT&T’s buy of DT’s T-Mobile, agency officials said Tuesday. Chairman Julius Genachowski and members of his staff had been pondering how to take both steps (CD Nov 29 p1). Public release of the memo opens the door for the document to be entered as part of the record in the government’s lawsuit to block the deal.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and key FCC staff still have not decided whether to allow AT&T to withdraw its application to buy T-Mobile (CD Nov 28 p1), agency and industry officials said Monday. Genachowski would like to make the staff memo on the deal public, regardless of whether the application is allowed be withdrawn “without prejudice,” officials said. If the staff report is released, it could become part of an upcoming trial of the government’s case against the deal in U.S. District Court in Washington. Commissioners have yet to approve through electronic voting either an order sending the application to an administrative law judge for hearing or an order Genachowski circulated the same day approving AT&T’s buy of 700 MHz spectrum from Qualcomm (CD Nov 23 p1), officials said.

A rule pending before the Office of Government Ethics, to limit government employee attendance at trade shows, could be bad news for associations as well as policymakers, government and industry officials told us. The proposed rule would end the practice of government employees being given free admission to commonly attended events, when the offer comes from groups that employ in-house lobbyists, from CTIA’s annual meeting to the Consumer Electronics Association’s International CES.

A rule pending before the Office of Government Ethics, to limit government employee attendance at trade shows, could be bad news for associations as well as policymakers, government and industry officials told us. The proposed rule would end the practice of government employees being given free admission to commonly attended events, when the offer comes from groups that employ in-house lobbyists, from CTIA’s annual meeting to the CEA’s International CES.

A rule pending before the Office of Government Ethics, to limit government employee attendance at trade shows, could be bad news for associations as well as policymakers, government and industry officials told us. The proposed rule would end the practice of government employees being given free admission to major events such as CES when the offer comes from groups that employ in-house lobbyists.

A proposed decision by the FCC to send AT&T’s buy of T-Mobile to an administrative law judge is expected to put more pressure on AT&T to reach a settlement with the government, industry and government officials tell us. AT&T officials have a meeting set up with the Department of Justice Monday to discuss a possible settlement (CD Nov 23 p1). A meeting that had been scheduled for Monday of this week was cancelled at the last minute.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski recommended Tuesday that AT&T’s proposed purchase of T-Mobile be set for hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). Genachowski recommended in a second order that the FCC approve with conditions AT&T’s purchase of 700 MHz spectrum from Qualcomm. He circulated the orders Tuesday morning — three weeks before the Dec. 13 FCC meeting — though they won’t necessarily be subject to a public vote by commissioners at the meeting, an FCC official said.

The FCC may eventually revisit a four-decade-old-rule barring multichannel video programming distributors from carrying games that are blacked out by sports leagues on TV stations in markets where the games haven’t sold out. The commission doesn’t seem poised to act right away on a Friday petition from several nonprofit entities and some groups saying they represent fans. Because the petition is styled as a way to cut outdated mandates out of FCC regulations, the commission may eventually start a proceeding on sports blackout rules. MVPDs and TV stations haven’t backed the petition yet, in part because they're scared of the leverage the leagues have over them in giving them rights to carry the games, said members of a coalition of five groups that filed the petition (http://xrl.us/bmimyk).

With the Thanksgiving deadline fast approaching for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, observers are growing skeptical that the super committee will meet its goal of finding $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction. Democrats and Republicans on the special committee seem to agree spectrum auctions should be included, but they continue to disagree on larger, unrelated issues, Hill and industry officials said. Auctions could still make the cut in a smaller package to mitigate an automatic, across-the-board budget cut in January 2013 known as a sequester, telecom industry lobbyists said.