Broadcasters said they are willing to compromise on the amount of licensed spectrum they have wanted the FCC to carve out of the 6 GHz band.

That came in a letter to the commission from the National Association of Broadcasters, which has been trying to insure that licensed mobile operations can preserve a protected space--including guard bands--as the FCC opens up the band for unlicensed use.

Broadcasters use the 6-GHz band for broadcast auxiliary services (BAS) operations such as sporting events, breaking news and special events.

NAB had sought 80 MHz (plus a 5 MHz guard band), leaving 1120 MHz for unlicensed, but now said it could live with 55 MHz. That is because UK spectrum regulator Ofcom has proposed reserving 55 MHz at the top of the band for what it calls "program making and special events."

Broadcasters are concerned about interference to their newsgathering operations if there is no reserved and protected space.

NAB said that following suit with a 55 MHz carveout--two 25 MHz channels and a guard band--in the U.S. would have the benefit of harmonizing the band's use internationally. Another benefit would be to resolve an appeals court remand of the FCC's 6 GHz order that centered on NAB's issues with protecting mobile operations. ■

European media regulators have tentatively concluded that 21st Century Fox's purchase of Sky is not in the public interest, saying it would give the company too much control over UK news across all platforms--TV, radio and online--but it found there were no broadcast standards issues with the deal.

That was the provisional conclusion of UK communications regulator Ofcom's Competition & Markets Authority (CMA), which has been looking at that issue as part of its six-month review of the proposed deal. It said the Murdoch Family Trust (MFT), which controls Fox and parent News Corp., would have too much influence "over public opinion and the political agenda."  A final report on the deal is due out in May, so Fox has more time to make its case of adjust the deal.

Related: UK Authority Rules Against Hannity, Carlson

21st Century Fox has defended the deal to CMA last November, saying it would not result in a loss of diversity of viewpoints, in part because after the deal there will remain several more trusted viewpoints than either Sky News or some of News Corp.'s outlets. Loss of viewpoint diversity is one of the key issues Ofcom's Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) is looking at in its six-month review of the proposed deal.

In December 2016, 21st Century Fox agreed to pay $14.8 billion for the balance of the pay TV service it did not already own. Sky has 22 million subs in five countries -- Italy, Germany, Austria, the U.K. and Ireland.

21st Century Fox was putting the best face on it, pointing to the fact that CMA had concluded there were no broadcast standards issues, the other key issue it was vetting. As to whether Fox and Sky have a "genuine commitment to broadcasting standards in the UK," CMA provisionally concluded that "Fox taking full control of Sky is not likely to operate against the public interest."

"The CMA also provisionally found that Sky has a good record in this regard, consistently complying with broadcasting regulation," CMA said. "It also has comprehensive and effective policies and procedures in place to ensure broadcasting standards are met."

Fox's statement on the CMA tentative conclusion led with the broadcast standards finding. "Today’s provisional findings move our proposed Sky transaction forward to the next phase of the regulatory review process," it said. "We welcome the CMA’s provisional finding that the Company has a genuine commitment to broadcasting standards and the transaction would not be against the public interest in this respect."

Related: CMA Outlines Review of 21st Century Fox Deal

"Regarding plurality, we are disappointed by the CMA’s provisional findings," said Fox. "We will continue to engage with the CMA ahead of the publication of the final report in May." Fox also said it still thought the deal would get done, and by June.

British regulators are scheduled to decide whether 21st Century Fox can fully consolidate satellite TV provider Sky next week, a move that will likely include at least some concessions, according to Telsey Advisory Group media analyst Tom Eagan.

The British Office of Communications (Ofcom) and the Competition and Markets Authority handed their recommendations on whether Fox will be allowed to purchase the remaining interest in Sky it doesn’t already own (about 61%) to culture minister Karen Bradley, who has the final say on the matter, on Tuesday. Bradley said she would make her decision public on June 29.

In a note to clients Tuesday, Eagan wrote that it is likely the British government will ask for at least some concessions if it approves the deal. But Eagan expects regulators to take a “middle-case” approach, perhaps independent governance of its Sky News operation.

Fox has been trying to consolidate its Sky stake for years. In 2011, it dropped its efforts to consolidate the company when it became apparent it would not be approved by regulators after its British tabloids were involved in a phone hacking scandal. The company earlier shut down its News of the World tabloid – the focus of the hacking investigation – and later separated its newspaper and television assets into two separate companies – News Corp. and 21st Century Fox. Fox has said the split was not connected to the phone hacking scandal. 

Fox’s latest scandal involves sexual harassment of female employees that led to the ouster of Fox News chief Roger Ailes – who died in May – and on-air personality Bill O’Reilly. Other executives left the company in the wake of the scandal, which some believe will weigh heavily on the British government’s decision.

Fox again proposed to take in the remaining 61% interest in Sky in December in a deal valued at about $14.5 billion. In April the European Commission approved the deal without conditions.

As the FCC gets ready to vote on new rules that could shape the future of the Internet in the U.S., Ofcom, the U.K.’s communications regulator, released a new broadband report Thursday finding that Virgin Media continues to deliver the fastest average Internet speeds, at least in the downstream direction. 

According to Ofcom’s latest annual report, which tabulated data from ISPs that represent 90% of the total market, Virgin Media’s “up to” 152 Mbps service averaged 135 Mbps over a 24-hour period, outpacing the top tiers from ISPs such as Plusnet, BT, Sky, EE, and TalkTalk.

“This is the 12th consecutive time Virgin Media has been proven to be the UK's fastest broadband provider,” Virgin Media CEO Tom Mockridge said in a statement that also mentioned the MSO’s plan to spend £3 billion (US$4.6 billion) in the coming years to expand the reach of its broadband network to millions of additional homes and businesses.

Plusnet, meanwhile, provided the quickest upstream, averaging 17 Mbps on average with its fastest tier.

Sky’s 38 Mbps tier was impacted the least by congestion during peak times, with 96% of Ofcom’s research panelists getting 90% or more of their advertises max speeds from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays. On the other side of that spectrum was EE – just 7% of panelists receive 90% or more of their max speeds during peak times, Ofcom said.  Among Virgin Media consumers who were part of the study, achieving advertised max speeds during peak times got progressively worse at higher service tiers. While those on the 50Mbit/s broadband achieved it 100% of the time, it dropped to 59% for the MSO's 100 Mbps service, and to 33% for the 152Mbit/s service, according to Ofcom.

The overall broadband picture is improving. Ofcom said adoption of “superfast” broadband services (30 Mbps and above) helped to drive the average U.K. broadband speed to 22.8 Mbps, up from 18 Mbps in May 2014, making it the largest rise (4.1 Mbps) in broadband speeds recorded by the agency over that span.

The report also found that 32% of U.K. broadband connections offer speeds up to 30 Mbps or more, up from 24% in November 2013.

Cable broadband saw a 26% increase in average speeds, to 54.4 Mbps, while fiber services (excluding cable connections) averaged 41.6 Mbps, relatively flat from the six months prior to November 2014. Average ADSL speeds were also flat, averaging 7.3 Mbps.

The average broadband speed delivered by cable operators in the U.K. have, for the first time, surpassed those being pumped out by fiber connections, according to a new analysis of fixed-line broadband services conducted by Ofcom, the U.K.’s communications regulator.

According to a study that tabulated data from November 2013 to May 2014, the average speed delivered by cable broadband reached 43.3 Mbps, taking a slight lead over fiber’s 42 Mbps. Cable’s average speed rose by 3.1 Mbps (8%), thanks in large part to customers upgrading to fastre speeds, while fiber connection speeds dipped 0.9 Mbps (2%), Ofcom said.

Average speeds for ADSL connections, which Ofcom said is the most common type of broadband in the U.K., increased by 0.7 Mbps (10%) to 7.4 Mbps during the studied timeframe.

Ofcom, which conducted the study to help consumers understand performance levels of differences of broadband services and make more informed purchasing decisions, said the average actual U.K. broadband speeds during this period rose by 5% (0.9 Mbps) to 18.7 Mbps.

Among other findings, Ofcom said the take-up of “superfast” services (those touting speeds of 30 Mbps or more) jumped from 24% to 28% of connections, while average superfast speeds remained stable, at 47 Mbps.

Among individual providers, the 152 Mbps (downstream) tier from Virgin Media (now part of Liberty Global) launched in February achieved the fastest download speed over a 24-hour period, averaging 141.9 Mbps. BT’s 76 Mbps fiber service followed with an average download speed of 62 Mbps.  Plusnet’s 76 Mbps package delivered the fastest uploads, with an average of 17.1 Mbps.

Ofcom also measured broadband during peak periods (8 p.m. to 10 p.m.) and found that performance  varied significantly between ISPs.

EE’s 38 Mbps package experienced the greatest degradation in speeds during peak periods – 27.2 Mbps, or 76% of the advertised max speed, with only 5% of subs on this tier getting an average peak-time speed that exceeded 90% of the max.

Sky’s 38 Mbps saw the least degradation during broadband primetime -- speeds during evening peak-time (34.5  Mbps) were 96% of the average maximum speed (35.9 Mbps).