FCC Wireless Bureau guidance on C-band licensee objections to a relocation payment clearinghouse decision, in a February notice (see 2203210036), are effective Friday, says a notice for Friday’s Federal Register. “Before the Bureau will consider any appeal, the relevant party or parties, whether an eligible incumbent claimant or eligible 3.7 GHz Service Licensee, must first timely file a notice of objection with the Clearinghouse as required by the Commission’s rules and pursuant to the process established in the Clearinghouse Dispute Resolution Plan,” the notice says. “Interlocutory appeals, before a timely notice of objection is filed with the Clearinghouse, will not be considered by the Bureau.”

The FCC expanded its disaster information reporting service coverage of the wildfires in New Mexico to include Taos County, said a public notice Tuesday. Wednesday’s DIRS report shows 1.2% of cellsites down in the affected area, all of them in Mora County. The report shows 713 cable and wireline subscribers out of service, and the agency approved two grants of special temporary authority for T-Mobile in the affected area. No broadcast stations or public safety answering points were reported down, but one TV station and one FM station are broadcasting from alternate towers, the report said.

NTIA said 34 states and territories expressed intent to join the $42.5 billion broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. NTIA said Wednesday it received letters of intent from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, American Samoa, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. States can get up to $5 million in planning funds by submitting the letters, which are due July 18. “It is absolutely critical that states join our efforts to deliver on access to reliable, affordable high-speed internet,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. NTIA released BEAD and other Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act notices of funding opportunity Friday (see 2205130054).

Two wireless items and a broadcast NPRM make up a short agenda for the June 8 commissioner meeting. A notice of inquiry looks at wireless needs of offshore operations, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Tuesday in a note from the chairwoman. “From the construction of new windfarms to generate renewable energy to the expanded use of wireless communications by cruise ships, there are many signs of growing demand for spectrum to support offshore operations,” she said: The NOI looks at “how best to meet our offshore spectrum needs. Smarter offshore spectrum policies could help make sure we are using our scarce spectrum resources efficiently, while facilitating new environmental, business, recreational, and scientific endeavors.” A second wireless item looks at improving mobile calls to 911. “In 2018, the Commission launched an inquiry to explore why some wireless 911 calls are misrouted to the wrong call center," Rosenworcel said. “Over the past four years, enhancements in location-based routing of 911 calls have mitigated the problem of misrouted calls, but they haven’t eliminated it,” she said: “The Commission will vote to update the record in this proceeding and seek comment on improvements that would help to reduce misrouting of 911 calls and improve emergency response times.” The FCC will also take up an NPRM on channel 6 TV stations, which primarily broadcast an audio signal receivable on FM radios and are sometimes called “Franken FMs.” Due to the digital TV transition, such stations had to cease broadcasting their analog signal in 2021. The agency “will consider a proposal to allow the broadcasters to continue their existing FM6 radio service, provided they meet certain conditions, including interference protection and the provision of a synchronous TV service to consumers,” Rosenworcel said. Channel 6 broadcasters had proposed a solution wherein they offer digital video and audio signal using 3.0 while continuing to transmit their analog audio as an ancillary service, and the Media Bureau granted a station special temporary authority to use that setup in June (see 2106100067). NPR has been a vocal opponent of channel 6 stations continuing to broadcast. Rosenworcel said Tuesday the proceeding is about “preserving established local programming for radio audiences.”

U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council negotiators, meeting over the weekend in Paris, agreed to set up an early warning “alert system” to share information about possible disruptions in the semiconductor supply chain, and “incentivize increased production” of chips, said the group in a joint statement Monday. The TTC also agreed to put a “mechanism” in place to avoid chip “subsidy races” among local governments, it said.

The FCC’s disaster information reporting system shows 6.2% of cellsites down and 1,227 cable and wireline subscribers out of service in the two New Mexico counties affected by recent wildfires the system is still activated for, said Monday’s release. The FCC deactivated DIRS for Colfax and Santa Fe counties Saturday. The system is still active for Mora and San Miguel counties. No broadcast stations or public safety answering points were listed as out of service in Monday's report.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito asked Texas to respond by Wednesday at 5 p.m. EDT to tech associations’ Friday emergency appeal of a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals order allowing the state’s social media law to be enforced (see 2205120053). Alito sought the state’s response Saturday on application 21A720. NetChoice, one of the plaintiffs, expects a court ruling could come as soon as Thursday or next week, Policy Counsel Chris Marchese told us. Alito may rule unilaterally or circulate the matter with the full court. The 5th Circuit court decided 2-1 Wednesday to grant the state’s request to stay a lower court’s preliminary injunction, meaning Texas could start enforcing its law prohibiting larger platforms from blocking, deplatforming or otherwise discriminating against users based on viewpoint or location within Texas. The plaintiffs argued Friday to the Supreme Court there's a reasonable probability that most justices would grant certiorari and a more-than-fair prospect that most justices would overrule the lower court’s decision. Denying stay would mean irreparable harm for social platforms covered by the Texas law, with no harm to Texas from keeping the status quo, they said. “The Fifth Circuit has yet to offer any explanation why the District Court’s thorough opinion was wrong,” plaintiffs wrote. The appeals “court short-circuited the normal review process, authorizing Texas to inflict a massive change to leading global websites and undoubtedly also interfering with the Eleventh Circuit’s consideration of Applicants’ challenge to the similar Florida law.” The Texas attorney general’s office didn’t comment Monday.

The FCC’s disaster information reporting system lists 1,227 cable and wireline subscribers out of service in the four New Mexico counties affected by wildfires, a small improvement over the 1,271 in Thursday’s report, said a release Friday. The report also shows outages at 2.2% of cellsites in the affected area, as compared with 3.1% reported Thursday. No broadcast stations or public safety answering points were listed as out of service.

The FCC’s disaster information reporting system shows 1,271 cable and wireline subscribers out of service in the four New Mexico counties affected by wildfires, said a release Thursday. The report also shows outages at 3.1% of cellsites in the affected area. No broadcast stations or public safety answering points were listed as out of service.

China-based drone maker DJI told the FCC it can't lawfully be placed on the list of covered companies posing a security risk. “DJI strongly and unequivocally disputes any claim that its products constitute a threat to U.S. national security, but in all events there is no lawful basis for the Commission to place DJI’s products on the Covered List,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 21-232. “DJI neither produces nor provides any ‘communications equipment or services’ that are subject to the Secure Networks Act.” A DJI representative spoke with staff from the offices of General Counsel and Engineering and Technology and the Public Safety Bureau. In October, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr called attention to DJI (see 2110190051), which has more than half the U.S. drone market, comparing it to a “Huawei on wings.”