In an update to Congress on its rip-and-replace program, the FCC said as of June 1, it has received 23,830 reimbursement claims across 122 of the 126 applications approved for a funding allocation to replace Huawei and ZTE communications gear and services. It also approved more than $693 million in claims “for which funds have been fully disbursed to recipients or are in the process of being disbursed through the U.S. Treasury.” The FCC noted a May 2 letter from Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to Congress urging full funding, which would close the program's shortfall of more than $3 billion (see 240502007). The Wireline Bureau “has continued to review Reimbursement Claims submitted by recipients and disburse funds within the approved funding allocations for costs reasonably incurred to remove, replace, and dispose of covered communications equipment and services,” the report said in Tuesday’s Daily Digest: “We have also received and reviewed the sixth and seventh rounds of status updates submitted by Reimbursement Program recipients.” The FCC estimated that 12% of participants have completed the program. Complaints from participants include “(1) absence of full funding; (2) supply chain delays; (3) labor shortages; (4) weather-related challenges; and (5) extended review times in the processing of requests for reimbursement,” the report said. Providers continue seeking additional time to complete the program. This week, Hotwire Communications became the latest to seek an extension, citing delays in obtaining replacement equipment, labor shortages and funding “uncertainties.”

Recent U. S. Supreme Court decisions on judicial deference to federal agencies and agency enforcement actions will have “significant impacts” on FCC matters, but “how they apply may vary significantly by context,” according to a Monday post from HWG attorneys Christopher Wright, Sean Lev and Jason Neal. Wright and Lev are former FCC general counsels. “Many FCC actions are based on statutory provisions that are at least arguably ambiguous, and litigants affected by those decisions will in some cases have a greater chance to prevail in federal court,” in light of the Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision (see 2407010036), the attorneys said. However, many of the rules that Congress directed the FCC to implement use terms like “appropriate” or “reasonable," they noted. “The meaning of the Court’s reasoning regarding those instances where Congress clearly has authorized some amount of discretion will be important (and surely contested),” they said. While SCOTUS ruled previous decisions that relied on Chevron deference remain in effect, that's also likely to get tested in the courts, they wrote. In its decision in SEC v. Jarkesy (see 2406270063), the court didn’t specify what opportunities for a jury trial satisfy the Seventh Amendment. Although FCC enforcement proceedings haven’t generally involved juries, even before Jarkesy an entity facing an FCC forfeiture could decline to pay, and eventually face a civil suit from DOJ to collect the unpaid money, a proceeding called a “trial de novo.” The FCC has previously contended that this opportunity satisfies any 7th Amendment requirements, the attorneys said.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday issued another decision concerning regulatory law, Corner Post v. Board of Governors, which is expected to also add to the number of challenges against regulatory agencies filed in court. But the effect for the FCC is expected to be zero, unlike last week’s decision in cases challenging the Chevron doctrine (see 2406280043), because the Communications Act, not the six-year statute of limitations in the Administrative Procedure Act, governs appeals of FCC decisions. In Corner Post, SCOTUS, in a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, revived a North Dakota convenience store's challenge of a Federal Reserve regulation covering debit card "swipe fees." Businesses pay banks these fees when customers use debit cards to make purchases. Corner Post argued that it shouldn’t be bound by the six-year statute of limitations to challenge a 2011 regulation because it opened for business in 2018. SCOTUS held that an APA claim doesn’t accrue for purposes of the six-year statute of limitations “until the plaintiff is injured by final agency action.” The administration, representing the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, had argued that adopting Corner Post's legal position "would substantially expand the class of potential challengers" to government regulations and "increase the burdens on agencies and courts." Industry lawyers noted that under Section 402(a) of the Communications Act, petitions for review of FCC orders, except those involving licenses, must be filed within 60 days. The deadline for appealing license decisions in Section 402(b) is 30 days. The APA deadline has never applied, lawyers said.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated a draft order that would require emergency alert system and wireless emergency alert participants to create and implement cybersecurity plans and broadcasters and cable companies to notify the FCC of EAS equipment defects within 24 hours of discovery. The draft rules would also require that EAS participants have contingency plans for delivering alerts. The order stems from an October 2022 NPRM on cybersecurity proposals for WEA and EAS, which drew industry criticisms that new cybersecurity rules would be overly burdensome and duplicative (see 2310300057). The draft order is “informed by stakeholder input” and “would reduce risks to communications networks, in keeping with a whole-of-government effort to establish cybersecurity requirements to support national security and public safety,” a release said. The item follows a recent trend at the agency of circulating controversial items without attaching them to open meeting agendas, thus keeping the draft version from being publicly released (see 2404010062).

The FCC’s rechartered Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council on Friday held the first meeting of its cycle at FCC headquarters. The meeting was organizational and offered little substance. CSRIC will focus on AI and 6G with three working groups (see 2406100047). And it will consider “how can we harness AI for good … while also preventing and mitigating harms associated with the use of AI,” Public Safety Bureau Chief Debra Jordan said. Another focus is next-generation 911, Jordan said. “In the future, consumers will have an increasingly wide range of wireless devices that can transmit 911 calls over a variety of networks -- you will examine how to best ensure people can call for help across these expanding platforms and options and in the next-generation 911 environment,” she said. Moreover, CSRIC will develop a plan “for more secure and reliable 6G networks and services that minimize risks,” she said. It feels like 5G is just getting started, “but we want to be forward-looking,” Jordan added. Sanford Williams, an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, said, AI “has swiftly transitioned from a futuristic concept to an integral part of our daily lives, from voice assistance … to advanced machine learning algorithms predicting consumer behavior.” Williams added, “AI is literally everywhere.” He played for CSRIC members the deepfake President Joe Biden political robocall that was featured during the FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee Wednesday (see 2406260041). Williams noted that Biden’s executive order on AI (see 2310300056) delegated several tasks to the FCC, including examining the potential for AI “to improve spectrum management, increase the efficiency of non-Federal spectrum usage and expand opportunities for the sharing of non-Federal spectrum.” The order instructed the FCC to consider use of AI for improving network security, resiliency, and interoperability through next-generation technologies including self-healing networks, 6G, and open radio access networks, Williams said. FCC staff need help from industry experts in all CSRIC's areas of study, he said. In brief remarks, Rosenworcel thanked members for agreeing to serve on CSRIC. "It will be hard to surpass the last CSRIC’s work on 5G network security and mitigating the vulnerabilities of software in cloud services, but I think you’re up to the challenge,” Rosenworcel said. CSRIC co-Chair Billy Bob Brown from the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said the world has never faced greater cyber risks. “I believe we face the greatest challenge of our generation -- an existential challenge -- but I also have hope.” CSRIC is expected to next meet Sept. 27.

ISP groups will voluntarily dismiss their lawsuit against Vermont’s net neutrality law, a Friday notice at the U.S. District Court of Vermont said. The groups are ACA Connects, CTIA, NCTA, USTelecom and the New England Cable & Telecommunications Association (case 2:18-cv-00167-CR). Vermont’s law seemed in good shape following significant, late-April decisions by the FCC and the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (see 2405030057).

The 6th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court Friday rejected an FCC motion to move the net neutrality appeal to the D.C. Circuit (see 2406240027). “When considering a motion to transfer a multi-circuit petition, we give considerable weight to our selection in the lottery,” the court said in docket 24-7000. “That lottery system would not mean much if a party disappointed by the luck of the draw could transfer the case to its preferred forum.” The case doesn’t present any of the “unusual circumstances requiring transfer,” the order said. Eleven petitions for review were filed in seven circuits, the court said. “All but one of the petitioners oppose transfer,” it said: “The D.C. Circuit has some familiarity with the legal classification of broadband through its consideration of prior FCC orders. But the FCC’s vacillating positions on the proper classification of broadband demonstrate that the prior orders do not represent the staggered implementation of a single undertaking.”

The 2026 ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Policy Forum (WTPF) will have a sizable agenda and likely serve as an important precursor to the ITU's 2026 Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-26), held later that year, Access Partnership blogged Friday. The WTPF agenda includes space connectivity and telecommunications/information and communications technology resilience, it said. WTPF opinions could portend potential compromises on contentious issues at PP-26, it said.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau said in a report Thursday the Oct. 4 test of wireless emergency alerts and the broadcast emergency alert system appeared to be mostly a success, though there’s room for improvement. The report called for further FCC action addressing some of the problems uncovered. At the time of the tests, a Federal Emergency Management Agency official described (see 2310040071) them as “extremely successful." Based on survey data shared with the commission, “most respondents reported successful receipt of the WEA test message,” the report said: “The test also highlighted areas where WEA delivery can be improved, such as ensuring more consistent delivery and resolving issues concerning alert message audio tone and vibration cadence.” Meanwhile, “the large majority” of EAS participants “reported successful receipt and retransmission of the nationwide test” and “demonstrated that the national EAS distribution architecture is largely effective as designed.” The bureau found signs of progress compared with a similar test two years earlier. The message was received by 96.6% of EAS participants, compared with 89.3% in 2021, and the overall retransmission success rate was 93.6%, compared to 87.1%. The improvement is likely due to initiation of the 2023 test alert using common alerting protocol, “which introduced additional resiliency that was not available during the over-the-air-only 2021 nationwide test,” the bureau said. One negative was that more test participants reported equipment configuration issues and equipment failures than in 2021, the report said: “At the time of the test, approximately 23% of EAS equipment units, representing over 4,500 EAS Participants, were either using outdated software or were using equipment that no longer supported regular software updates.” Fully up-to-date gear had the highest receipt and retransmission rates. The Northern Mariana Islands, with a 20% retransmission success, and Guam, at 33.3%, had the worst success rates in the U.S. The bureau urged the FCC to consider rules “to improve the operational readiness of EAS Participants and Participating [wireless carriers], as well as ensure that EAS Participants are installing software updates in a timely manner and have plans for replacing equipment that is no longer supported by the manufacturer.” The bureau called on Congress to require all wireless carriers to support WEA and said industry can also take steps to make alerting more effective.

Internet service providers' hidden fees have frustrated 41% of Americans, according to a survey by internet and tech reviews site Reviews.org. It said 19% don't know how much they pay for internet, 45% are unaware of what speed plan they have, 47.3% never switched providers, and 40.1% never shopped around for the best speeds. Reviews.org said it surveyed 1,000 Americans in April.