By John Eggerton: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski will unveil on May 6 the commission’s legal approach to clarifying its authority to regulate the Internet. A senior FCC official describes it as somewhere between a “weak Title I and overly burdensome Title II” approach. “The Chairman will seek to restore the…

Usually I watch Congressional hearings on webcasts, an amazing gift for those of us who reported before live streaming. Today through a fluke of my schedule and the postponement of the original hearing from March til today, I’m in the Russell Building for a key moment in the FCC’s National…

A UK consultancy is predicting that tiered pricing plans for mobile internet are inevitable, given the dramatic rate at which mobile data—and especially video—is expected to rise in the near future. By 2015, U.S. mobile consumers are expected to consume 327 petabytes of mobile data a month, rising at a…

Sprint (NYSE: S) is in third place when it comes to the number of subscribers it has on its network, but it wants everyone to know that it is the first to roll out a 4G network in the U.S. To add to that momentum, Sprint unveiled the first WiMax-based…

The theme at CTIA in Las Vegas is mobile broadband and the shift to 4G. In this morning’s keynote, AT&T’s CEO Ralph de la Vega said that the U.S. is facing unprecedented demand for mobile broadband and that the U.S. is moving faster than any other country in the world…

The FCC is working on a plan that would sell a chunk of spectrum in the first half of 2011 that failed to be sold in 2008 because of the strict conditions of use. The spectrum, which was earmarked for public-safety use, may now have different terms and conditions, if…

More details are coming in about what Google (NSDQ: GOOG) may have in store for the set-top box. Just a week after the WSJ reported that Google was working with Dish Network on a new Android-based platform that would let users search both TV content and web videos on their…

Sprint (NYSE: S) Nextel may unveil the first 4G phone next week at the big CTIA wireless conference in Las Vegas. The device, which is reportedly made by HTC and called ‘the Supersonic,’ will run on the company’s WiMax network, which is being built by Clearwire (NSDQ: CLWR), reports the…

Mark Cuban and Avner Ronen met in person for the first time just before their Pay TV vs. Internet debate here at South by Southwest Interactive—about 20 minutes before their session was interrupted by a fire alarm. But they argue like a married couple that’s been together for 20 years,…

In an appearance this morning at a Seattle breakfast event, former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, now a partner at Patton Boggs, was careful not to offer any jabs at the current administration. Instead, he focused on the current administration’s plans for rolling out a new national broadband plan, scheduled to…

Google’s announcement last month that it would build “ultra” high-speed broadband networks in the U.S. has generated interest from cities who want the tech jobs (and prestige) that would likely come if Google (NSDQ: GOOG) were to select them as a trial location. To be considered, cities must fill out…

It’s not the end of online access to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert but next week tracking them down may be a little less convenient for those used to watching on Hulu. Viacom (NYSE: VIA) is removing Comedy Central from the ad-supported video portal at 11:59 p.m. March 9 after…

The data is starting to roll in for the full Vancouver Olympics. NBC hasn’t been to provide some of the stats we’ve asked for—the number of video streams served the night the first USA-CAN hockey match aired on MSNBC against ice dancing, among them. But the numbers we do have…

U.S. hockey fans needed a pay video subscription to watch the USA-CAN women’s gold medal game online but the men’s victory over Switzerland was barrier-free—and paidContent has learned the Friday men’s semi-final with Finland is likely to follow suit. NBC already has promised to broadcast Friday’s game live across the…

Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) customers who subscribe to both digital cable and broadband from the Long Island operator may get the chance next quarter to do something their geek friends have been bragging about but with a lot less hassle: watch internet content on their TVs. The new service, dubbed PC…

Two years after HBO started a small trial of HBO Broadband, the Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) premium net is going live with HBO GO on Verizon FiOS. Through HBOGo.com, Verizon FiOS subscribers who also get HBO (the companies won’t release that number) will be able to watch 600-plus hours of…

Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is entering yet another business, saying it will build “ultra” high-speed broadband networks in locations across the United States. The plan is relatively small in scope: Google says it will offer service to between 50,000 and 500,000 people (By comparison, cable operators currently offer high speed service…

For some critics, the lack of participation from content companies at yesterday’s iPad launch threw some cold water on predictions for how the new device could help the media business regain revenues lost to the web. But if you looked hard enough, publishers were there and, more importantly, some have…

The amount raised by the Hope For Haiti Now telethon stands at more than $61 million, organizers announced late Monday, up from the preliminary figure of $58 million and likely to keep growing as proceeds from multimedia sales and more donations come in. Nielsen Media Research estimates that more 83…