Advocates for incarcerated people, corrections trade groups and prison-calling companies disagree about the FCC’s draft order on incarcerated people’s communications services (IPCS), according to filings last week in docket 23-62. Thirty-five House Democrats panned the item in a letter (see 2510220049) and advocacy group FWD.us said the proposed rule would increase rate caps by up to 83%, “is based on misleading information, and unfairly shifts facility costs onto the families of incarcerated people.” Securus, meanwhile, said the rule revisions in the draft “make considerable progress towards placing IPCS on a sustainable path, both economically and legally, a critical outcome to all stakeholders.”

The FCC is expected to hold its open meeting Tuesday as scheduled, despite the government shutdown, said Chairman Brendan Carr and other agency officials in interviews. “The plan is to move forward with an in-person October open meeting as scheduled,” an FCC spokesperson told us.

Fixed wireless access (FWA) isn't a temporary product "but something that's here to stay," as improving mobile technology means more "fallow capacity" that T-Mobile can use, COO Srinivasan Gopalan said Thursday as the carrier announced quarterly results. His comments came a day after AT&T told analysts that it plans to beef up its FWA service starting next year using EchoStar's 3.45 GHz band spectrum. Cable ISPs have said they expect to see FWA competition ebbing as wireless carriers deploy their spectrum more for mobile uses (see 2501310005).

The suspension of most FCC functions as part of the broader government shutdown (see 2509300060) is already generating “a fair number of negative consequences” for the agency, and the gridlock will worsen the longer the closing lasts, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Thursday during a USTelecom event. Meanwhile, Senate Communications Subcommittee Chair Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., raised continued concerns about how NTIA’s June 6 policy restructuring notice for its $42.5 billion BEAD program (see 2506060052) is affecting their respective states’ plans for their allocation of the connectivity money.

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

The increasing adoption of AI and U.S. leadership in the technology require massive investments in wireless infrastructure, a focus on making more spectrum available, and attention from Congress and regulators on making those things happen, said speakers at the Wireless Infrastructure Association's Building the AI Future event Wednesday in Washington, D.C. “The bricklaying for AI that telecom provides is really, really important,” said Deputy NTIA Administrator Adam Cassady, while Crown Castle COO Cathy Piche told the panel that “wireless infrastructure is really AI infrastructure.”

More consolidation among local broadcast stations is a must for survival, but beyond a change in ownership, it will also bring a change in how stations operate, station group owners said Wednesday at NAB’s annual New York City show. They also said the ATSC 3.0 transition needs a deadline for exiting 1.0 that the FCC will support.

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.