Two FCC facilities are listed among government real estate leases marked for termination by the Department of Government Efficiency, according to the DOGE website. The FCC didn’t respond to requests for comment on the listings, but the leases appear to be Enforcement Bureau field offices in Dallas and Cerritos, California. An internal General Services Administration planning document said those leases would be canceled Sept. 30, according to an Associated Press report. DOGE lists the termination of the Cerritos lease as saving $142,637 a year and the Dallas lease as saving $60,630 a year. The FCC didn’t respond to questions about whether the canceled leases would influence Enforcement Bureau field coverage or involve a reduction in personnel. After then-Chairman Tom Wheeler cut several EB field offices in 2015, FCC Republicans -- including former Chairman Ajit Pai -- voiced their opposition (see 1507160036).
Intel appoints Lip-Bu Tan, ex-Walden International, as CEO, succeeding David Zinsner, now executive vice president and CFO, and Michelle Johnston Holthaus, CEO-Intel Products; Tan also becomes executive board chair, replacing Frank Yeary, Darwin Capital, now independent chair … Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) reappoints Benjamin Barkley as chief executive and public counsel, Office of Public Utility Counsel, pending Senate confirmation … Government satellite network Rivada Select Services names to board Joe Maguire, University of Texas; John O'Connor, J.H. Whitney Investment Management; and Allen Parker, ex-Wells Fargo … TechNet taps Robert Boykin, formerly California Association of Health Plans, as executive director-California and the Southwest region.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
The National Sheriffs' Association and the California State Sheriffs' Association made their case for staying parts of the FCC’s October order on the 4.9 GHz band. The groups supported arguments by the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (see 2503070024), which also sought a stay, and countered arguments by the FCC, the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA) and Public Safety Broadband Technology Association (see 2503030053).
The Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) disagreed sharply with FCC arguments and groups supporting FirstNet that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit shouldn’t stay parts of the FCC’s October order on the 4.9 GHz band. BART, the National Sheriffs' Association and the California State Sheriffs' Association sought a stay, which was opposed by the commission, the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance and Public Safety Broadband Technology Association (see 2503030053).
The American Civil Liberties Union, Committee to Protect Journalists and others are expressing dismay at what they see as the FCC putting politically motivated pressure on media organizations and broadcasters "who exercise protected speech that the current administration disfavors."
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
The FCC and two groups that support FirstNet asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit not to stay the FCC’s order giving use of the 4.9 GHz band to the FirstNet Authority, and indirectly AT&T. The briefs were filed in response to the request for a stay by the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), the National Sheriffs' Association and the California State Sheriffs' Association.
Mike O'Rielly, former FCC commissioner, joins Information Technology and Innovation Foundation board ... Keith Woods retiring as NPR's chief diversity officer, effective May 2 … California Senate confirms Matthew Baker's reappointment to California Public Utilities Commission.
Google's GU Holdings has received a green light from the FCC Office of International Affairs to build and operate a non-common carrier submarine cable system linking California and Guam to Taiwan and the Philippines, the agency said Friday. The cable system, TPU, will have a total capacity of about 260 Tbps, it said. GU -- which had previously received special temporary authority to construct and test the portions of the cable system in U.S. territory -- plans to begin offering commercial service on TPU in May.