Representatives of public interest and tribal groups met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty to ask that the FCC change course and create a tribal window prior to the AWS-3 reauction (see 2507140042). Commissioners are to vote July 24 on auction rules (see 2507030049). Attending the meeting were representatives of Public Knowledge, X-Lab, the Navajo Nation and the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association.

The News Media Alliance is looking to state laws, legal action and licensing deals to protect its news publication members from AI exploitation and tech company competition, said NMA President Danielle Coffey at a Media Institute luncheon Wednesday. “We are in the business of news. But no matter how important that news is, it's unsustainable if the business side is struggling, and right now, business is being impacted by difficulties in monetizing our content,” she said.

Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.

Charter Communications says growing incidences of deliberate damage to its network in Missouri constitute domestic terrorism. It said Monday it has seen 148 outages in the state so far this year due to attacks on its network -- a 200% year-over-year increase. Charter said 28 states, including Missouri, have passed legislation making attacks on critical communications infrastructure a felony offense, with 11 this year. The cable ISP also labeled June network damage in California domestic terrorism (see 2507010014).

AT&T called on California lawmakers Tuesday to grant it and other carriers relief from carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations. A state bill, AB-470, is "only focused on COLR relief in those well-served areas or areas with no population," said Terri Nikole Baca, AT&T vice president of legislative affairs, during a California Senate, Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee hearing. The "idea of a COLR obligation is outdated," she argued. Meanwhile, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and The Utility Reform Network (TURN) urged the committee to maintain its nearly 30-year-old rules.

Several industry groups urged the California Public Utilities Commission to abandon a proposal to assess telecom user fees based on access lines. In reply comments posted Wednesday (docket 21-03-002), CTIA said access-line-based assessment has "resulted in inequitable distribution of the surcharge burden, placing an undue share of the burden on wireless consumers and increasing the burden on residential and low-income users." Verizon agreed, saying the commission should instead assess the "reasonableness of the current per-line surcharge mechanism in this phase of the proceeding." The user fee, or public purpose program surcharge, is "operating effectively" as is and doesn't need further modifications, said the California Broadband & Video Association. AT&T suggested the commission "defer consideration of the modification of the user fee funding mechanism until the legislature authorizes" it to make changes.

Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions. New cases are marked with a *.

The Utility Reform Network urged the California Public Utilities Commission to align its Lifeline rules with the FCC's federal program regarding the phase-out for voice-only support. In a filing posted Monday, TURN noted that the FCC again extended its phase-out and urged that CPUC deny AT&T's petition to relinquish its designation as an eligible telecommunications carrier based on the previous end date of the federal subsidy. The latest FCC extension order "continues to recognize the same issues TURN has raised throughout this proceeding [when wireline providers] do not (or choose not to) receive federal Lifeline subsidies for voice service," including harm to subscribers "who lose service or who cannot retain an affordable plan."

A draft California Public Utilities Commission resolution would align the state's LifeLine with federal Lifeline rules. The resolution will be considered during the commission's Aug. 14 meeting. If adopted, the California LifeLine's annual renewal process would mirror that of the FCC. The state program would risk losing "approximately $1.4 million annually" in federal funding if the change isn't implemented, the draft said. Updating the process would ensure that "all subscribers, regardless of database match status, are held to a consistent standard."

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Monday called for communications providers and power companies to work together in the aftermath of hurricanes and other natural disasters. Other speakers at the FCC's hurricane resiliency roundtable noted that communications between the domains have improved, highlighted by the work of the Cross-Sector Resiliency Forum (see 2504250050), which launched after Hurricane Michael in 2018.