This year should see Charter Communications largely wrapping up a rural buildout that will give it "growth for years to come," CEO Chris Winfrey said last week. Comcast, meanwhile, expects many wireless customers who are now using a free line to become paid customers in the second half of 2026 when a yearlong promotion ends, said co-CEO Mike Cavanagh. In separate calls with analysts last week to announce 2025 earnings, both companies said large portions of their footprints will have multi-gig symmetrical broadband speeds available this year.
Thirty years in, the 1996 Telecommunications Act has helped usher in some notable successes, such as increased competition and innovation, but it hasn't made nearly as much progress in guaranteeing universal service, telecom policy experts said in a Broadband Breakfast panel discussion Wednesday.
Whether an FCC licensee is controlled by or subject to the jurisdiction of an adversary nation should now be clearer, with the commissioners voting 3-0 Thursday to adopt an order requiring some licensees to certify any oversight by a foreign adversary. Thursday's meeting also included 3-0 votes to adopt an order codifying aspects of the agency's foreign-ownership review process and an NPRM about updating rules that govern internet-based telecommunications relay services -- a bookend to the analog TRS rules modernization NPRM adopted in November (see 2511200047). In addition, the commissioners approved an order creating a new category of unlicensed devices that can operate in the 6 GHz band (see 2601290048).
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr singled out California on Thursday, criticizing its Lifeline verification and indicating that the commission would take a particularly hard look at the state for possible Lifeline fraud. The FCC's February meeting will include an NPRM about restricting funding to only American citizens and a few classes of non-citizens and about not letting “opt-out” states use their own verification processes (see 2601280058). The agency last year revoked California's ability to do its own Lifeline verification because the state barred the sharing of information about subscribers with federal agencies, including immigration authorities (see 2511200031).
With a quartet of bills pending before the Missouri House about unwanted calls, House Utilities Committee Chairman Robert Bromley (R) urged their sponsors Wednesday to work on a substitute, which he said he would then push to get through the committee. "Everyone is somewhat in favor" of the state doing more to tackle unwanted call issues, he said at a committee hearing. But while representatives of the three major wireless carriers expressed support for the general goals of the bills, they also raised concerns about a patchwork of state versions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act that sometimes conflict with the federal version of the law.
The commercial space sector is bullish on the major overhaul of satellite and earth station licensing that the FCC Space Bureau is considering, space advocates said Monday during an FCBA webinar. However, multiple speakers cautioned that the FCC's efforts to speed up approvals could be undercut if there aren't improvements to federal agencies' coordination with private operators about spectrum use. Commissioners unanimously adopted the space modernization NPRM in October (see 2510280024).
Challengers and critics of SpaceX's 15,000-satellite supplemental coverage from space service said its response to their concerns is unconvincing. In FCC comments posted Friday (docket 25-340), many argued that SpaceX has yet to make the case for why equivalent power flux density (EPFD) limits should be waived. SpaceX has said opponents' concerns and petitions to deny are unsubstantiated and factually incorrect (see 2601160041).
As a growing number of states propose and adopt restrictions on the use of cellphones and personal electronics in schools, those bills are facing little to no opposition. “It’s pretty amazing how much support they are getting,” said Kris Perry, executive director of the nonprofit Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development.
Satellite and wireless interests are at odds over whether there still needs to be a 50 MHz guard band in the 28 GHz band as protection for upper microwave flexible-use service (UMFUS) networks. The FCC Space Bureau last month solicited comments in docket 17-95 about communications with earth stations in motion (ESIM) in the 28.35-28.6 GHz band (see 2512190009).
The FCC Space Bureau's move toward a major overhaul of the satellite and earth station licensing rules is being met with general cheers by the space operator community, as well as numerous suggested edits. The commissioners unanimously adopted a space modernization NPRM in October (see 2510280024). Comments were due Tuesday in docket 25-306, which saw nearly 60 filings this week from space operators, trade groups and wireless interests.