The FCC Media Bureau issued a public notice late Wednesday seeking comment on eliminating or modifying the national broadcast-ownership cap. The item sought comment about changing the cap, modifying the UHF discount and treating ownership of non-top-four affiliate stations differently under the rules. If the FCC “retains a national audience reach cap, should common ownership of stations that are not affiliated with major national broadcast networks (i.e., ABC, CBS, NBC, or FOX) be excluded from the cap?” the notice asked.
Priorities for the FCC Space Bureau include modernizing its licensing process, ensuring spectrum availability for satellite services and tackling outdated technical rules that might slow the provision of satellite services, bureau Chief Jay Schwarz said last week on American Enterprise Institute's Explain to Shane podcast.
A broadcaster who executed a sham transfer of his radio and TV stations to his 17-year-old niece and falsely certified that he was a U.S. citizen doesn’t have the character to be an FCC licensee, ruled FCC Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin in an order in Monday’s Daily Digest (see 2504090035). Antonio Guel is barred from future broadcast ownership and must pay a penalty of $188,491, and any broadcaster that uses him as a consultant is required to attach a copy of Halprin’s decision against him to all their FCC filings, the order said. The Media Bureau designated Guel and his company Hispanic Christian Community Network’s 2010 sale of stations to Guel’s niece for hearing in 2023.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center, the R Street Institute and Public Knowledge jointly defended the FCC's January declaratory ruling and NPRM in response to the Salt Typhoon cyberattacks (see 2501160041). The groups met with staff from the FCC Public Safety Bureau, said a filing posted Monday in docket 22-329.
FCC changes: Enforcement Bureau Assistant Bureau Chief Pamela Gallant is promoted to acting deputy bureau chief; Attorney Adviser at the Office of Engineering and Technology Tom Struble becomes acting chief of staff at the Office of Economics and Analytics.
The New York office of the FCC Enforcement Bureau sent warnings to several New York and New Jersey property owners about pirate radio broadcasts emanating from their properties, said an agency notice in Thursday’s Daily Digest. DRSD Management was warned about a property in Wesley Hills, New York, and the company 141 Coit Street was warned about a property in Irvington, New Jersey. Marie Louis and Yvons Louis received a warning about their property in Spring Hills, New York. All three warnings said the landowners could face up to a $2.4 million penalty for hosting unauthorized broadcasts.
NextNav reported Friday on meetings at the FCC urging the agency to launch an NPRM on its proposal for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) in the lower 900 MHz band. NextNav representatives met with an aide to Commissioner Anna Gomez and staff at the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology.
The FCC Wireline Bureau Friday approved a temporary waiver of TKC TeleCom's deadlines to comply with the commission’s video incarcerated prison calling services rules. “We find that TKC has demonstrated that its waiver request presents special circumstances that warrant a deviation from the Commission’s rate cap compliance deadlines and per-minute pricing rule for video IPCS,” the bureau said. “As TKC explains, despite its best efforts to complete the necessary engineering and software upgrade work on its billing platform, its platform is not presently capable of applying the correct fees and taxes for video IPCS needed to comply with the Commission’s rules.” The new compliance deadline is April 1, 2026. The bureau noted it had previously approved a similar waiver for Securus. TKC sought the waiver last month.
Liberty Latin America (LLA) will pay a $24,000 fine for violating the 25% cap on foreign ownership of holders of common carrier radio station licenses, the FCC Enforcement Bureau said Friday. Bermuda-based LLA provides broadband, video, mobile and telephony services in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and across the Caribbean and Latin America. The bureau said it discovered a discrepancy between the amount of foreign ownership the FCC approved for LLA and the actual ownership interest of LLA subsidiary LiLAC Ventures.
The FCC won't accept any International Communications Filing System filings between Wednesday and June 23 as part of the transition to a new, cloud-based ICFS, the FCC Space Bureau and Office of International Affairs said in Friday's Daily Digest. They said the new ICFS would be available starting at 3 p.m. June 24, and all applications and other filings are to be submitted to it. The offices said existing filings in the current ICFS will be migrated over for the full launch to occur July 2, with the current system retired and unavailable as of 5 p.m. June 18. They said during the soft launch, some existing filings may not immediately appear in the new ICFS.