The Senate Commerce Committee cleared the Global Investment in American Jobs Act (S-2563) on Tuesday, but only after a sometimes-contentious debate in which Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., attempted to attach an amendment aimed at criticizing actions by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and the Trump administration that were perceived as damaging the First Amendment. The panel also unanimously advanced an amended version of the Foreign Robocall Elimination Act (S-2666).

Financial and electric utility trade groups are urging the FCC to extend the compliance deadline for its revoke-all robocall rule, given that the caller ID further NPRM on the agency's October agenda proposes rolling back that rule. In separate comments posted Tuesday in docket 17-59, both industry coalitions said meeting the currently proposed April 11, 2026, deadline would mean businesses would have to start allocating resources now. The electric utility associations noted that any subsequent revisions would represent wasted investments.

The FCC’s draft further NPRM on ATSC 3.0 is seen by broadcasters as an indication of Chairman Brendan Carr’s good intentions toward the industry, but 3.0 opponents said the item highlights concerns about encryption, privacy and spectrum use.

A draft further NPRM proposing the relaxation of some FCC requirements for broadband labels is expected to be approved at the agency’s Oct. 28 meeting, but it isn’t yet clear how Commissioner Anna Gomez will vote on it.

The U.S. is at a “crossroads” concerning the standards process, and decisions made in the next two years could have big effects for a long time, said Laurie Locascio, CEO of the American National Standards Institute, during a Center for Strategic and International Studies conference Friday. Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions CEO Susan Miller warned that as the process becomes more political, the Trump administration isn’t putting enough attention on standards work.

Eric Tamarkin, Samsung's public policy counsel, called on the FCC to move forward to fully implement the voluntary cyber trust mark program, approved by FCC commissioners 5-0 in March 2024 (see 2403140034). Tamarkin spoke during the final policy panel of the Mobile World Congress last week in Las Vegas.

The ongoing federal shutdown is causing anxiety and a lack of clarity for both FCC staff and industry attorneys, they told us in interviews. The FCC’s expectations for required filings during the shutdown are unclear, agency staffers are uncertain about when or if they will be paid, and less than two weeks remain before the Oct. 28 open meeting, which has the longest agenda the FCC has seen in years. Industry officials told us the shutdown could lead to some items being taken off the October agenda, but all three commissioners told us they're still taking meetings and calls on the planned items.

Changes to rules for how wireline is deployed, not just wireless, are important to Southern Linc, said Holly Henderson, its external affairs and compliance director, during a panel discussion this week at the Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas. Other speakers at the conference, which is sponsored by CTIA and GSMA, highlighted the importance of the upper C band to the wireless industry.

AT&T's purchase of EchoStar's 3.45 GHz and 600 MHz spectrum licenses won't reduce wireless competition, but instead it will make the two wireless providers "stronger and better able to compete in an increasingly competitive wireless marketplace," they told the FCC in a public interest statement posted Thursday (docket 25-303). The companies said the deal gives spectrum-constrained AT&T the spectrum it needs and takes care of the "overwhelming headwinds" that EchoStar faced at the FCC in trying to become a facilities-based nationwide carrier. AT&T and EchoStar announced the $23 billion spectrum deal in August (see 2508260005).

Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.