Former President Donald Trump appeared again to threaten ABC's “license.” In an interview on Fox News after a campaign rally on Saturday, the Republican presidential nominee was asked about his ABC News debate earlier in the month with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats' presidential nominee. Trump said the moderators were unfairly biased against him and that ABC should be investigated. “And, you know, they have to get a license from the federal government,” Trump added. Programming networks aren’t licensed by the FCC; individual broadcast stations are. Previously, Trump called for ABC to lose its “license” immediately after the debate with Harris and issued similar threats against NBC, CNN and other outlets earlier in his campaign and as a sitting president. In letters to Congress last week (see 2409190063), FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the agency “does not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage.” ABC didn't comment.

An FCC order lowering per minute rate caps for audio calls and establishing interim rate caps on video calls for incarcerated people takes effect Nov. 19, said a notice in Friday's Federal Register. The agency also wants comments by Oct. 21, replies by Nov. 19, in docket 23-62 on a related Further NPRM seeking comment on permanent video rate caps for incarcerated people's communications services. Commissioners adopted the item in July and released part of the order last month (see 2407180039). Several groups filed challenges to the partially released order (see 2409190061).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will decide, without oral argument, a case alleging that the FCC has an “affirmative legal obligation” under Sections 552 and 553 of the Administrative Procedure Act “to make its proposed and final rules readily available to the public without charge,” despite the process known as incorporation by reference (IBR), the court said Friday (docket 23-1311). IFixit, Public Resource and Make Community brought the challenge (see 2406050031). They charged that the FCC violated the APA when the commission failed to provide proper notice and comment protocol as it amended rules incorporating four equipment-testing standards (see 2311090002). “When IBR was adopted in the pre-Internet era, its purpose was to save the cost of reproducing in the Federal Register what are often voluminous technical standards that have been adopted by federal agencies as substantive rules, and hence are the law, apparently on the assumption that most of those who needed the standards already had access to them,” plaintiffs said in a June reply brief (see 2406050031): “Now that the FCC and every federal agency has a website on which they can, and do, post all of their rules not subject to IBR, there is no longer a cost justification rationale for IBR.” The court decided on its own motion, that oral argument will not assist … in this case,” the order said. “Accordingly, the court will dispose of the petition for review without oral argument on the basis of the appendix submitted by the parties and the presentations in the briefs.”

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation randomly selected the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear multiple pending petitions for review of an FCC order on incarcerated people's communications services, said an order Thursday. The petitions challenged various parts of the partially published order in the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 9th circuits (see 2408230012).

Scott Jordan, FCC chief technologist when the commission approved the 2015 net neutrality rules, defended the latest version in an amicus brief filed Tuesday at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in docket 24-7000. Petitioners “consistently conflate” three different kinds of internet access service -- dial-up, cable modem and broadband, Jordan said: “Petitioners use this conflation as the basis for their assertions that all forms of Internet access service were classified as information services prior to 2015. These assertions are incorrect as a matter of fact.” Now a computer science professor at the University of California, Irvine, Jordan was an advocate of the 2023 rules (see 2404160055). Capabilities listed in the definition of information service aren't offered by broadband internet access service, Jordan said. “They are offered by applications (information services) that utilize broadband Internet access service to transmit and receive data.” Jordan drew a comparison with the era when Netflix offered movies on DVD, sent through the mail. “Petitioners’ analogies would have the Court believe that not only was Netflix an information service, but that the US Postal Service was also an information service, and that the US Postal Service offered movies ‘in conjunction with’ Netflix.”

SoftBank and Intelsat will collaborate on a device that combines terrestrial and satellite connections, “enabling customers to stay connected everywhere they go,” the companies said. SoftBank and Intelsat will “lead research and development of seamless 5G connections” between terrestrial and satellite networks and launch a hybrid solution, said a Monday news release. “Despite the coming realization of autonomous mobility with automobiles, ships, drones and other vehicles, many areas are still without ground-based mobile network coverage and require separate devices and accounts to connect to non-terrestrial networks,” the companies said. Design, development, field-testing and commercialization will come in phases, “aligned” with development of 3rd Generation Partnership Project 5G nonterrestrial network standards. “The resulting hybrid solutions will allow for existing satellite terminals to be used in the near term and newer 5G-based terminals as they become available,” the companies said.

AT&T negotiated tentative agreements with Communications Workers of America covering two regions, averting a strike in the West and ending a 30-day work stoppage in the Southeast, CWA said Sunday. The Southeast agreement covers 17,000 workers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. A five-year agreement includes across the board wage increases of 19.33%, with additional 3% increases for wire technicians and utility operations, the union said. The four-year agreement for the West region covers 8,500 workers in California and Nevada and includes a compound wage increase of 15.01% and “improvements to overtime and scheduling,” CWA said. The Southeast agreement comes days after both sides returned to the bargaining table, an AT&T spokesperson emailed Monday. “As we’ve said since day 1, our goal has been to reach fair agreements that recognize the hard work our employees do to serve our customers with competitive market-based pay and benefits that are among the best in the nation -- and that’s exactly what was accomplished,” the spokesperson said: The agreements also support AT&T’s competitive position in the broadband industry “where we can grow and win against our mostly non-union competitors.” CWA President Claude Cummings said members and retirees from across the U.S. helped during the strike. “I believe in the power of unity, and the unity our members and retirees have shown during these contract negotiations has been outstanding and gave our bargaining teams the backing they needed to deliver strong contracts,” Cummings said.

With FY 2024 regulatory fees due before Sept. 27 (see 2409100045), the FCC issued a series of regulatory fee fact sheets Monday. The agency said cable TV systems operating on Oct. 1, 2023, must pay a $1.27 per-subscriber regulatory fee for all the community units in which they operate. The number of basic cable subscribers served on Dec. 31, 2023, should be used to calculate the fee payment. IPTV subscribers and direct broadcast satellites should be included in the Cable Television Systems fee category and assessed a regulatory fee at the same rate as cable television fees. The number of IPTV and DBS subscribers served on Dec. 31, 2023, should be used as the basis for calculating the fee payment. In addition, the agency said Commercial Mobile Radio Service providers owe regulatory fees for each license held as of Oct, 1, 2023, even if the license later expired. CMRS fees will be assessed on the number of telephone numbers or subscriber counts, including non-geographic telephone numbers. The Office of International Affairs said regulatory fees for submarine cable systems will be paid, per cable landing license, for all submarine cable systems operating as of Dec. 31, 2023. Moreover, it noted that capacity for calculating fees should be based on “lit” capacity. It said any regulated party whose total FY 2024 annual regulatory fee liability, including all categories of regulatory fees for which payment is due, is $1,000 or less, is exempt from payment of FY 2024 regulatory fees. Also exempt are noncommercial educational (NCE) FM station licensees and full-service NCE television broadcast station licensees, provided that these stations operate solely on an NCE basis.

The FCC is inviting comment on or before Nov. 18 on whether any rules adopted in calendar year 2013 should be “continued without change, amended, or rescinded in order to minimize any significant impact the rule(s) may have on a substantial number of small entities,” said a notice for Tuesday’s Federal Register. The FCC is seeking comment to comply with Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, the notice said. Comments should be filed in docket 24-245.

The Media and Democracy Project's petition against Fox’s WTXF-TV Philadelphia's license renewal is based on a Delaware Superior Court judge's ruling on a motion for summary judgment (see 2409120056).