The U.S. Supreme Court should resolve a circuit split over whether the FCC properly handed down fines against AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile for violating FCC data rules, AT&T said Friday in a filing at the court. Verizon challenged at SCOTUS a September decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit upholding a $46.9 million fine (see 2511170035). In August, the D.C. Circuit upheld a similar fine against T-Mobile (see 2508150044), while the 5th Circuit earlier rejected one imposed on AT&T (see 2504180001).

The FCC will relinquish the third floor of its Washington headquarters and 33 parking spaces to be occupied by the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General, according to an internal email obtained by Communications Daily. An FCC spokesperson confirmed the move Thursday.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has lifted the stay in Consumers’ Research’s latest challenge to the USF, according to an order Wednesday in docket 25-60535. The FCC previously requested the stay during the government shutdown and earlier this week asked for it to be lifted (see 2512020011).

The Telecommunications Industry Association filed comments on the FCC's proposal for submarine line terminal equipment licensing (see 2512010043).

While digital skills are key to people's ability to compete in the current economy, a recent New America survey found that answers vary widely on how many Americans actually have such skills, said Jessica Dine, policy analyst at New America’s Open Technology Institute, during a Fiber Broadband Association webinar Wednesday. Part of the problem is that, at least in the U.S., the term “digital skills” is poorly defined, she said.

A three-commissioner FCC is likely going to be the norm for the foreseeable future, though being two members down isn't hurting the agency's output, former Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said Wednesday. "The work gets done," he told the audience at a vCon Foundation conference about AI and telecom issues (see 2512030030). However, if a minority commissioner "decides to play hardball" and not show up for meetings, meaning there's no quorum, "then you have got a problem." O'Rielly said five "makes more sense" because it's easier to work around the potential of "one kook on the FCC [bottling] things up.”

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau on Wednesday terminated 2,048 inactive proceedings while leaving open nine that had been looked at for possible closure. An FCC proposal to delete dormant dockets got support from many commenters earlier this year, though with scattered calls to preserve several of them (see 2507100018). Most of the dockets spared have had little recent activity.

Comments are due Jan 2, replies Feb.2, in docket 22-2 on an NPRM proposing various changes to the FCC’s broadband label rules, said a notice for Wednesday’s Federal Register. The agency approved the NPRM 2-1 in October (see 2510280024), with a dissent by Commissioner Anna Gomez, who found some of the changes anti-consumer.

The FCC asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to lift the stay in Consumers’ Research’s latest challenge to the USF, according to a filing Monday in docket 25-60535. Petitioners agreed to the motion, said the agency, which previously sought the delay until the government reopened (see 2511040071).

Recon Analytics is finding that the frequency with which consumers access and use AI is tied to how they get online, analyst Roger Entner said last week during a Fiber Broadband Association webinar. Among consumers who use satellite or DSL, only about 10% use AI on a daily basis, compared to 28% for fixed wireless access, 32% for cable and 45% for fiber, he said.