The FCC Public Safety Bureau approved a waiver Thursday for Aroostook County, Maine, allowing it to license a VHF channel from the industrial/business pool and use it for internal public safety and first responder communications. The bureau said the county contends that it plans to replace its aging system, but construction has been delayed for more than two years due to a “lack of available frequencies.”
Republican FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty agreed Thursday with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr that broadcasters lack the same First Amendment protections as others because of how they're regulated. Speaking at a Free State Foundation lunch, Trusty also indicated that she believes President Donald Trump is legally able to fire FCC commissioners, though she noted that issue is before the courts.
The FCC continues to hear from people with family members in prison as they challenge a Wireline Bureau order delaying some incarcerated people’s communications service (IPCS) deadlines until April 1, 2027 (see 2507310049). “Contrary to the baseless claims made by the opposition, which is dominated by the predatory correctional telecom industry itself, the delay will significantly harm families impacted by incarceration,” said a comment by Karen Christenson this week in docket 23-62.
The FCC Media Bureau is seeking comment on Kansas Public Telecommunications Service’s request to substitute channels for its station KPTS Hutchinson, Kansas, an NPRM said Tuesday. KPTS is currently on Channel *8 and seeks to switch to Channel *33. The FCC designates noncommercial channels with an asterisk. Comments will be due in docket 25-287 30 days after the NPRM is published in the Federal Register and replies 15 days later. The Media Bureau also granted a substitution request for theDove Media, which wanted to substitute Channel *24 for Channel *4 for a future noncommercial station in Jacksonville, Oregon.
Consumers’ Research and its allies made additional arguments at the FCC for why the agency should zero out the USF contribution factor for Q4 (see 2508110021), despite the U.S. Supreme Court decision that the factor is constitutional (see 2506270054).
The FCC sought comment Tuesday on a July petition by the Safer Buildings Coalition (SBC) urging the FCC to launch a rulemaking on guidelines for getting consent from licensees to install signal boosters (see 2507210025). Comments are due Oct. 16, replies Oct. 31, said a Public Safety Bureau notice in docket RM-12009.
California, New York and other “blue” states supported an application for review asking the FCC to rescind a Wireline Bureau order delaying some incarcerated people’s communications service (IPCS) deadlines until April 1, 2027 (see 2507310049). Other groups also supported the review in filings posted Tuesday in docket 23-62.
Amazon's Kuiper is pressing the FCC to revise its five-year deorbit rule for low earth orbit satellites. The current rule, which requires LEO operators to dispose of their satellites within five years of completing their missions, "imposes an artificial and rigid timeline that does not clearly and meaningfully increase space safety for diverse technologies and mission profiles," company representatives told FCC Space Bureau Chief Jay Schwarz, according to a filing posted Monday (docket 25-133). Satellite operators can be unfairly penalized for a satellite failure beyond their control, Kuiper said. It urged the agency to instead require satellite operators to design and operate their systems to achieve post-mission disposal within five years under nominal conditions. "This approach would better account for the practical realities of the space environment while incentivizing safe satellite and constellation design and operation." The agency adopted the five-year deorbit rule in September 2022 (see 2209290017).
NextNav countered the arguments that RFID company Avery Dennison made in its challenge to NextNav’s proposal to offer a terrestrial complement to GPS using 900 MHz spectrum (see 2507280039). Avery Dennison said in a filing last month that NextNav’s proposal “presents a significant threat to the continued effective operation of the RFID ecosystem, which plays a vital role across multiple industries, including logistics, retail, airline, consumer goods, and healthcare.”
NTCA urged the FCC to tweak the enhanced alternative Connect America cost model (E-ACAM) “in a manner that captures as accurately as possible the effects on costs associated with location changes.” An NTCA representative discussed the program with a Wireline Bureau staffer, said a filing Monday in docket 10-90. NTCA favors applying the threshold for support adjustments in a manner that mitigates volatility in support levels, so providers can deliver “on the obligations of the program consistent with a reasonable understanding of such obligations at the time of program elections despite lingering concerns” and outdated data in the national broadband map, the group said. The FCC should also use its map as a “starting point rather than as a ‘finish line’ for assessments of would-be competitive presence.”