A pirate radio operator in the Boston area has agreed to pay $10,000 to the FCC as part of a settlement with the agency, said an order and consent decree in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. In April 2024, the FCC approved a $597,775 notice of apparent liability against Jean Marius, operator of the unauthorized radio station Radio Tele Planet Compas in several communities in Massachusetts. After the NAL, Marius gave the agency evidence of his inability to pay the proposed forfeiture, according to the consent decree. After determining that he had ceased broadcasting, the Enforcement Bureau agreed to the reduced amount, which Marius must pay within 30 days. Under the consent decree, Marius agreed not to commit future acts of pirate broadcasting or assist anyone else in doing so. If he violates the settlement within the next 20 years, he will have to pay the remaining $587,775 proposed, the consent decree said.
The FCC Public Safety Bureau on Tuesday provided extra time for comments on a next-generation 911 Further NPRM that commissioners approved 4-0 in March (see 2503270042). Initial comments are now due Aug. 4, instead of July 21, and replies Sept. 17, instead of Aug. 18. The National Emergency Number Association and the National Association of State 911 Administrators had asked for a 120-day delay for both initial comments and replies, the bureau said. While it didn't grant the full 120 days, it said “a moderate extension” of the initial comment deadline “will provide additional time for parties to organize and coordinate their input to the Commission.” In addition, increasing the interval between initial comments and replies creates “an expanded window for collaborative discussions among parties after the initial comments have been filed.”
The FCC Wireless Bureau on Tuesday sought comment on a CTIA petition asking the commission to extend a temporary waiver that allows use of the interim volume control testing method for hearing-aid compatibility compliance (see 2507020051). Comments are due July 18, replies July 28, in dockets 23-388 and 20-3. Without further action, the current waiver would expire Sept. 29. “We seek comment on whether we should grant CTIA’s petition to extend use of the temporary volume control standard beyond the upcoming … expiration date and, if so, for how long,” the bureau said.
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau established the total funding requirement and approved contribution factors for the interstate telecommunications relay services (TRS) fund for a one-year period ending June 30, 2026. The FCC previously took comments (see 2506090018). Contribution factors determine the amounts that carriers and other covered service providers must contribute to the fund.
Gray Media and E.W. Scripps have agreed to a swap of TV stations that would involve seven stations in five markets and create new duopolies for both companies, said a Gray release Monday. Media brokers told us that a wave of such swaps has been anticipated (see 2505150056) since the FCC signaled in March a new willingness to waive its prohibition against top-four duopolies (see 2503120066). The Media Bureau approved a Sinclair deal involving a top-four waiver last week (see 2507010073).
Public interest groups, MVPD groups and low-power TV broadcasters opposed to NAB’s petition for a mandatory ATSC 3.0 transition are “protecting their turf” rather than the public interest, said NAB Chief Legal Officer Rick Kaplan in a blog post Monday. Kaplan was responding to a June ex parte filing from the Consumer Technology Association, NCTA, ACA Connects, Public Knowledge, the Advanced Television Alliance and the LPTV Broadcasters Association, which said NAB’s request goes against both the public interest and the Trump administration’s push for deregulation (see 2505090060).
The FCC Enforcement Bureau ordered the Hampton Inn and Suites in Renton, Washington, to explain its alleged improper use of a part 90 signal booster that was found to interfere with 806-817 MHz band communications by the Puget Sound Emergency Radio Network. “Unauthorized or improper operation of signal boosters creates a danger of interference to important radio communications services, including communications of first responders and violates the Commission’s rules and section 301 of the Communications Act,” said a notice in Monday’s Daily Digest.
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.
NTCA representatives met with FCC Wireline Bureau staff to discuss the challenges carriers face as they maintain or build and upgrade broadband networks in rural areas. “These can include low densities, long distances from urban areas, mountainous and rocky terrain, workforce challenges, and weather-shortened construction seasons,” said a filing Wednesday in docket 17-84. “These challenges are exacerbated by time-consuming and expensive permitting processes at the local, state, and federal levels that inhibit their ability to serve their rural communities.”
Commercial aviation priorities frequently push aside commercial space launch operation issues at the FAA, said George Nield, chairman of the Global Spaceport Alliance (GSA). Tackling some challenges that the space launch industry faces starts with elevating the Office of Commercial Space Transportation so that instead of being under FAA, it has equal standing as the FAA, Nield said in an interview with Communications Daily. The following transcript was edited for length and clarity.