Ligado and Viasat's Inmarsat have struck a deal that ends Inmarsat's objections to Ligado's plan to get out of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Inmarsat had fought Ligado's plan to lease its L-band spectrum to AST SpaceMobile (see 2504280047). AST, meanwhile, has asked the FCC to commence commercial supplemental coverage from space (SCS) service.
The FCC Wireline Bureau announced revised deadlines Thursday for comment on a Talton petition seeking a waiver of the commission’s rules capping the rates for audio and video for incarcerated people provided to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Initial comments are now due July 2, replies July 12, and must refer to dockets 23-62 and 12-375. The bureau last month suspended “indefinitely” comment deadlines following objections that Talton hadn’t provided the data that other parties need to formulate comments (see 2505070057). The bureau said only that the deadline was suspended so that the agency could consider the complaints.
SpaceX is taking another stab at obtaining FCC approval to operate in the 1.6/2.4 GHz bands, but it's unlikely the commission will act quickly, if at all, space spectrum experts told us.
The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) urged the FCC to consider adding communications equipment and services associated with connected vehicle technologies to the “covered list” of unsecure equipment when it poses a risk to national security. Comments are due June 27 on the finding by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security that the provision of some connected vehicle hardware or software by Chinese- or Russian-controlled entities can pose “an unacceptable risk to U.S. national security and the safety and security of U.S. persons.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau on Wednesday asked for a record refresh following up on a March 2020 NPRM (see 2003310039). Comment deadlines will come in a Federal Register notice. The bureau also asked whether “any market consolidation affected parties’ positions on the questions in the Notice,” which is part of the FCC’s efforts to “eliminate outdated and unnecessary regulations.”
The price of TVs and smartphones plunged in the U.S. between May 2024 and last month, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index unadjusted data released Wednesday. Smartphone prices were down 14.3% year over year, while TV prices fell 9.8%, it said. Computers, peripherals and smart home assistant prices dropped 3.5%. The price of services was more mixed. The data said the cost of wireless phone service was down 0.5%, while residential phone service rose 1.2%. Cable, satellite and livestreaming TV service costs were up 2%, and internet service was down 3.1% The cost of video purchase/subscription/rental rose 4.4%. May prices for all items were up 2.4% year over year before seasonal adjustment, the bureau said.
Comments are due July 9, replies July 24, regarding the 2,000-plus docketed proceedings that the FCC wants to terminate as dormant, according to a Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau public notice (docket 25-165) in Wednesday's Daily Digest. The agency last month said the effort represented the largest number of dormant dockets it has ever sought to eliminate at one time (see 2505020063).
Earth exploration satellite service (EESS) startup Novi Space wants to launch a pair of non-geostationary orbit EESS satellites in 2026. In an FCC Space Bureau application posted Tuesday seeking authorization, Novi said its satellites will collect data and then downlink it either to commercial ground stations or Iridium's satellite constellation. It said it anticipates putting up the two satellites on SpaceX launches scheduled for January and June next year.
Allowing broadcasters to replace physical emergency alerting equipment with a software-based system won’t require the FCC to create an entirely new regulatory regime, said NAB and broadcast executives in a meeting with Public Safety Bureau staff last week, according to an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 15-94. Emergency alert system (EAS) equipment maker Digital Alert Systems has said NAB’s proposal would raise a host of regulatory issues (see 2505230056), but NAB and executives from iHeart, Beasley and Capitol Broadcasting told the FCC that such concerns are “overblown,” the filing said.
Debt collection interests pushed FCC leadership to eliminate the "revoke all" rule during a meeting with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's office, according to a filing posted Monday in docket 25-133. ACA International and others said there's broad support for reviewing Telephone Consumer Protection Act implementation, including the "revoke all" rule, as well as restoring the established business relationship exemption and extending it to calls to wireless numbers. They said there's also wide support for harmonizing FCC rules with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act's requirements. Meeting with Carr's office were ACA CEO Scott Purcell and representatives of American Profit Recovery, Collection Bureau Services and Encore Capital Group. The "revoke all" rule relates to consumers’ ability to revoke consent to receive robocalls and texts.