The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment Monday on IDS GeoRadar's (IDSG) request for modification of its 2018 waiver allowing use of its 76-77 GHz band Hyper Definition Radar (Hydra) system for mining safety (see 1808130022). IDSG asked that use of the Hydra system be expanded to allow for “structural health monitoring” and “quarry, cut-slope and natural landslide monitoring,” the bureau said. The company also asked permission to use an updated version of Hydra. Comments are due July 3, replies July 18 in docket 17-358.
As part of SES' proposed $3.1 billion purchase of Intelsat (see 2404300048), the two are asking the FCC Space Bureau to transfer all of Intelsat's FCC authorizations to SES. In a series of applications posted Friday, the two said the proposed deal would result in "a more dynamic multi-orbit satellite operator with the ability to offer innovative and enhanced services to commercial and U.S. Government customers," and greater competition as New SES "will be better positioned to vigorously compete" with legacy geostationary orbit operators and emerging low earth orbit players.
Radio broadcaster Salem Media apologized for releasing a film and book questioning the 2020 election results and removed both from all its platforms, Salem said in a news release Friday. The book and film are called 2000 Mules. They're the work of conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza and the organization True the Vote. In the release, Salem said it relied on representations from D’Souza and TTV that a Georgia private citizen named Mark Andrews illegally deposited ballots during the election. “We have learned that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has cleared Mr. Andrews of illegal voting activity in connection with the event depicted in 2000 Mules,” said the release. “We apologize for the hurt the inclusion of Mr. Andrews’ image in the movie, book, and promotional materials have caused Mr. Andrews and his family.”
The one-year window for qualified low-power TV stations to apply for Class A status under the provisions of the Low-Power Protection Act opened Friday, and will stretch until May 30, a Media Bureau public notice said Friday in docket 23-126. The window is open to stations that broadcast a minimum of 18 hours daily, carry three hours per week of local programming, are located in markets of 95,000 households or fewer, and met all those requirements 90 days before the LPPA’s approval on Jan. 5, 2023. Fewer than 30 rural stations are expected to qualify. LPTV broadcaster Radio Communication Corporation is challenging the FCC order implementing the LPPA in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (see 2405230040).
The FCC on Thursday approved environmental sensing capability sensor deployments and coverage plans for Federated Wireless in Hawaii in the citizens broadband radio service band. The Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology in coordination with NTIA and the DOD made the approval. Federated has satisfied the sensor coverage requirements to protect DOD operations in nine dynamic protection areas in the state and Pearl Harbor, the notice said. Federated on Wednesday asked for an extra six months, from June 30 to Dec. 31, to launch operations. The extension “is necessary to allow Federated Wireless sufficient time to complete construction of its ESC network in Hawaii, which… is taking longer than anticipated due to circumstances beyond the company’s control.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics released a summary of data associated with the affordable connectivity program (see 2405200010). A Thursday public notice in docket 21-450 included data on the "price, subscription rates, and plan characteristics" of the service offerings of ACP providers. The data released was a "snapshot" of the services nearly 20 million households were receiving as of Aug. 1. The bureaus said that 1,600 providers submitted plan and subscription data at the ZIP code level. The FCC made the data available at the nationwide level on "plan characteristics across all ACP households." State level data shows the average base monthly prices of plans for households "enrolled within designated download speed tiers and data on the number of subscribers of plans within those tiers." County and ZIP code level data included the average base monthly price and subscription rates for fixed and mobile service.
T-Mobile’s proposed acquisition of UScellular’s wireless operations, including about 30% of its spectrum, has already seen opposition (see 2405280047), with more expected. In addition, the deal will likely face heavy scrutiny from DOJ and the FCC, industry experts agree. Handicapping whether the transaction will receive approval is difficult, especially headed into a presidential election in November, industry officials say. Some of the 21 states where UScellular has a presence could play at least limited roles reviewing the deal, state and other officials said. T-Mobile’s buy of Mint and other assets from Ka’ena, a smaller deal that didn’t involve spectrum, took regulators more than a year to approve.
Broadcast applications filed after Aug.1 will need to use 2020 U.S. Census data in any interference analyses, said the FCC Media Bureau in a public notice in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. “Failure to do so will require amendment and may result in dismissal of applications as defective,” the PN said. The TVStudy software the agency uses to calculate interference and allot channels will make use of the 2020 census data, the PN said. TVStudy has also been updated to version 2.3.0, said a separate PN listing the updates.
The FCC Media Bureau will allow low-power TV stations to apply to change their channels starting Aug. 20, after a 14-year freeze, said a public notice Tuesday. The freeze on major modification applications for LPTV was put in place in 2010 in anticipation of the broadcast incentive auction. The freeze will be lifted Aug. 20 only for channel change applications. “No other changes will be permitted,” the PN said, but added that allowing channel changes is the “first step” in doing away with the freeze altogether. The channel change applications will be processed “on a first-come, first-serve basis.” Mutually exclusive applications will be handled through a settlement window to be announced by the MB in a later PN. Lee Miller, Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance executive director, told us many LPTV stations have long been waiting for the chance to change channels to improve reception or change their market. The announcement is “a step forward for our industry,” he said.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) warned the FCC of potential risks to consumers regarding providers’ implementation of security countermeasures to prevent the exploitation of vulnerabilities in the Signaling System 7 (SS7) and Diameter protocols to track the locations of consumers through their mobile devices (see 2404290032). “EFF has been concerned about location data privacy for years, including the threat posed by surveillance companies enabling their foreign government customers to conduct surveillance by exploiting SS7 network vulnerabilities,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-99. Current use of the Diameter protocol “presents similar problems,” EFF said in reply comments on a Public Safety Bureau notice. EFF urged the FCC to require audits of major wireless carrier use of SS7 and Diameter “every 12-18 months,” with a requirement that providers “address any identified vulnerabilities.”