Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
Internet connections, even if they’re slow, are critical to agriculture, said Joy Sterling, CEO of California’s Iron Horse Vineyards, during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. Other speakers called on the FCC to continue the work of its Precision Ag Connectivity Task Force following its final meeting last year (see 2412050050). Sterling served on the task force.
A proposed California Public Utilities Commission decision would require AT&T to pay The Utility Reform Network (TURN) $259,173 following the carrier's failed efforts to end its carrier of last resort (COLR) and eligible telecom carrier obligations (see 2502050049). The decision, written by Administrative Law Judge Thomas Glegola, may be considered at the CPUC's May 15 meeting. It noted that AT&T failed to meet its legal obligations or burden of proof to support its request "multiple times during the proceeding." AT&T's request was "effectively an overhaul of the Commission’s COLR rules" and "would have had significant and possibly detrimental impacts on disadvantaged communities throughout California." The proposed decision also noted that TURN's involvement in the proceeding "resulted in a unique contribution to the record about the availability and viability of alternatives to AT&T, which was a central issue and finding of the commission's final decision dismissing the application."
California launch technology startup SpinLaunch unveiled plans Thursday for a low earth orbit microsatellite broadband constellation. It also announced a $12 million investment from Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace for the constellation's development and commercialization. SpinLaunch said an in-orbit demonstration is planned for 2026.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions. New lawsuits are marked with a *.
The House Commerce Committee's Democratic leaders said Monday that they have launched an investigation into FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s “attacks on the First Amendment and his weaponization of the independent agency,” including multiple broadcaster probes he has initiated since taking over Jan. 20 (see 2502130060). Meanwhile, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson of North Carolina and 72 other Republican lawmakers are urging the FCC to “modernize” its “outdated” broadcast ownership rules to remove “undue constraints on broadcasters’ ability to innovate and invest in local content.”
Bharat Ramamurti, National Economic Council deputy director during part of the Biden administration, criticized X owner Elon Musk on Friday for “amplifying” a “deeply misleading clip” of New York Times' Ezra Klein blaming Democrats for NTIA’s evaluation process for state-level applicants to the $42.5 billion BEAD program. Congress mandated the BEAD process in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. GOP lawmakers and the Trump administration are determining how to revamp BEAD after consistently criticizing how the Biden-era NTIA administered the program. Senate Commerce Committee Democrats raised concerns about GOP BEAD plans during a Thursday confirmation hearing for NTIA nominee Arielle Roth (see 2503270065).
California state lawmakers have introduced bills to keep film and TV production jobs from leaving, Sheppard Mullin blogged Tuesday. State senate and assembly bills (SB-630/AB-1138) would diversify the types of productions that qualify for California’s Film and Television Tax Credit program to include animation, as well as game shows and other unscripted programs, it said. The also would increase the tax rebate from 20% for most productions in the state, it said. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has also unveiled plans to raise California's current tax credit cap.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
House Oversight Committee members in both parties appeared not to move from their existing positions on cutting federal CPB funding after a dramatic Delivering on Government Efficiency Subcommittee hearing on perceived public broadcasting bias Wednesday (see 2503210040). GOP lawmakers appeared to still favor zeroing the money, with some telling us they want to push it through via a coming budget reconciliation package rather than wait for the FY 2026 appropriations process. Democrats backed maintaining the CPB appropriation and mocked Republicans for holding the hearing instead of probing perceived Trump administration abuses. CPB funding opponents got a boost when President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday afternoon that he “would love to” see Congress defund public broadcasters.