While the White House increasingly wields tariffs as an economic policy tool, parts of the tech, media and telecom universe see a growing risk of getting enmeshed in trade fights. Some communications technology could be particularly exposed, Telecommunications Industry Association Director-Global Policy Patrick Lozada told us. Broadcasters, meanwhile, are bracing for tariffs that could potentially result in lower advertising spends. SpaceX's temporary loss of a $100 million contract over a U.S./Canada tariff fight also could point to satellite communications getting caught in the thicket of U.S. trade disputes (see 2502060004).
The U.K.’s Office of Communications on Thursday announced a consultation that examines opening the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use, while considering licensed use of part of the spectrum. The Ofcom proposal would provide for low-power indoor (LPI) use across the entire band on a license-exempt basis.
Altice USA plans to offer multi-gig speed in 65% of its footprint by the end of 2028, up from about 30% now, the company said Thursday. In a call with analysts announcing Q4 2024 results, CEO Dennis Mathew said the company would rely on increasing its fiber footprint and reallocating spectrum to its hybrid fiber-coaxial network for the improvement. He said the company plans to expand its network by an additional 175,000 passings this year, most of which will be via fiber.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s announcement that the FCC will begin investigating regulatees with diversity, equality and inclusion programs appears to be among the first actions a federal agency has taken to enforce President Donald Trump’s DEI executive order, though the FCC’s authority in this area is unclear, attorneys and academics told us. In his letter Tuesday to Comcast, Carr said the agency plans “broader efforts to root out invidious forms of DEI discrimination across all of the sectors the FCC regulates.”
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions. New lawsuits since the last update are marked with an *.
A notice of inquiry about use of the upper C band for 5G may prove controversial given the implications for radio altimeters, industry experts said. The NOI proposes a study of 3.98-4.2 GHz spectrum, just above the spectrum sold in the record-breaking C-band auction, which ended in early 2021 (see 2102180041). FCC Chairman Brendan Carr initiated the NOI last week for a vote at the Feb. 27 open meeting. A radio altimeter is a device that measures the distance between an aircraft and the ground.
The FAA might not be a good home for the Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST), and maybe it should move elsewhere, said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Also speaking Wednesday at the FAA and Commercial Space Federation's annual commercial space conference in Washington, House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Chairman Mike Haridopolos urged aggressive use of low earth orbit (LEO) broadband in BEAD, saying it would be a vastly cheaper approach.
House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin of Maryland, other panel Democrats and Free Press co-CEO Craig Aaron used a Wednesday hearing aimed at reviewing instances of claimed Biden administration censorship to lambaste Republican FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for ordering a string of investigations against U.S. broadcasters. The probes, launched since Carr took office Jan. 20, thus far focus on broadcasters that have aired content critical of President Donald Trump or otherwise face claims of pro-Democratic Party bias, though Carr has, in some cases, framed the scrutiny as focused on other matters (see 2502110063). House Judiciary Democrats also sharply criticized X owner Elon Musk for actions on the social media platform that they view as censorship of anti-Trump content.
A legal challenge to the FCC's over-the-air reception devices (OTARD) rules might face procedural problems, a federal judge said Tuesday. But the three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit also seemed skeptical during oral argument (docket 24-1108) of the commission's creating a "human presence" requirement in its OTARD rules for Indian Peak Properties. The company is appealing an FCC order that denied its petitions for declaratory ruling. Indian Peak was seeking a federal preemption under the OTARD rule of a Rancho Palos Verdes, California, decision to revoke its local permit for the deployment of rooftop antennas on a property (see 2405060035).
The FCC faces pressure to find a better, more market-oriented way to reallocate spectrum, but there are no obvious solutions in sight, auction experts said Tuesday. The discussion, during a Technology Policy Institute webinar, the first in its series on spectrum policy, comes as the fight over spectrum heats up, and the administration looks at the future of the lower 3 GHz, 7/8 GHz and other bands (see 2502100047).