The United Church of Christ's Media Justice Ministry asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to review the FCC’s recent controversial changes to rules for incarcerated people's communications services, which commissioners approved 2-1 in October (see 2510280045). UCC seeks review on the grounds that the latest order is “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and otherwise contrary to law within the meaning of the Administrative Procedure Act.”

The FCC Office of International Affairs has signed off on Google subsidiary Starfish Infrastructure's planned Bulikula submarine cable system, which will connect Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Hawaii to Fiji and French Polynesia. Starfish applied for approval 13 months ago (see 2411180002). In a public notice last week, the FCC said the subsea system license was granted with routine conditions.

Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE) last week asked the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the FCC’s controversial changes to rules for incarcerated people's communications services, which commissioners approved 2-1 in October (see 2510280045). The 1st Circuit already heard a challenge to the initial 2024 order before the FCC majority revised the rules (see 2510070044).

The uncertainty around the fate of BEAD non-deployment funds keeps Penn State telecommunications professor Chris Ali up at night, he said Wednesday during an online Q&A with Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton. “I don’t like it that these funds are being used, a little bit, as ransom in certain situations,” Ali said. Those funds are needed to “fill the gaps” in BEAD funding and should be used for affordability programs and workforce training, he said. “I love, love, love to see more states, more entities fight tooth and nail to keep a hold on this money that is legally and morally theirs.” A host of state legislators from all over the U.S. urged NTIA to release the funds in a letter Tuesday (see 2512090057).

Comments are due Jan. 8, replies Feb. 9, on a waiver petition from New Florence Telephone to allow the merger of four commonly owned study areas in Missouri, said an FCC Wireline Bureau public notice posted Tuesday in docket 96-45. The merging study areas are those of the New Florence Telephone Co., New London Telephone Co., Orchard Farm Telephone Co. and Stoutland Telephone Co. “Petitioners state that merging the study areas will provide more efficient operations, accounting, and regulatory compliance and will result in more operating funds to provide high-quality service,” the notice said.

Securus wants the FCC to extend the deadline for a requirement that prison-calling providers bill for video on a per-minute basis, said a waiver petition posted Tuesday in docket 23-62. Previous FCC orders have extended the deadline to April, but Securus now seeks a further delay until April 30, 2027, due to technical and operational challenges. The company is working on a new platform to accommodate the per-minute billing and other FCC policies but needs more time to complete it, the petition said. “Based on current progress and logistical realities, Securus projects that its tablet-based systems will be fully transitioned by April 2026, while terminal-based systems will require until April 2027 for completion.” Without an extension, “Securus would face the untenable choice of offering video calling services for free at a financial loss or discontinuing them entirely, both of which would harm incarcerated persons and their families,” the filing added. “Securus has committed to maintaining current per-session rates consistent with the previous waiver order, and Securus will comply with Commission rate caps once per-minute billing is implemented.”

The FCC Wireline Bureau is seeking comment on Somos' petition for rulemaking about modernizing the numbering assignment, administration and routing rules (see 2509260016), according to a public notice released Monday. The petition, filed in September, urged the FCC to transition number assignment to an all-IP system to combat cyberattacks. Comments are due Jan. 7 replies Feb. 6, in docket RM-12012.

Global Caption, which provides captioned telephone service to jails and prisons, urged the FCC to impose “stricter constraints” on registrations to provide IP captioned telephone service in correctional facilities. Site-based enterprise registrations would “provide an additional backstop against waste, fraud, and abuse, in that the individual sites will be better suited to ensure that their users need to utilize IP CTS,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 22-408.

The FCC Wireline Bureau sought comment Friday on Interactive’s proposed purchase of customers, network gear and other assets from TelNet. TelNet plans to no longer provide telecom services if the deal is completed. “Applicants state that customers of TelNet will have access to new services offered by Interactive and the proposed transaction will strengthen the competitive position of Interactive by expanding its customer base,” the bureau said. Comments are due Dec. 19, replies Dec. 26, in docket 25-189.

Salt Lake City-based NexTalk said Thursday that it was approved by the FCC as a provider of IP captioned telephone service. The approval was “a significant milestone in its mission to make communication more accessible for all,” the company said.