Representatives of the ioXt Alliance, an IoT security group, met with Public Safety Bureau staff about the FCC’s nascent voluntary cyber trust mark program. They “provided a general overview of how ioXt’s own certified products registry operates and offered insights on challenges and opportunities associated with the design and development of the registry for the Commission’s IoT Cybersecurity Labeling Program,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 23-239.
The FCC Wireline Bureau on Thursday authorized carriers to “grandfather” interconnected VoIP services provisioned over copper lines and waived an “associated requirement to file an application with the Commission” under agency discontinuance rules. The bureau also waived for two years “the need for carriers applying for section 214(a) discontinuance authority to follow the testing methodology and parameters described in the 2016 Technology Transitions Order and its Technical Appendix.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau announced Thursday the interim required locations lists for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, the Bringing Puerto Rico Together Fund, and the Connect U.S. Virgin Islands Fund. The release is tied to the FCC’s shifting carriers from reporting USF high-cost program data using latitude/longitude/address information to reporting deployment using fabric locations IDs, the bureau said. The FCC previously committed to releasing an interim required locations list this month for RDOF carriers using the latest version of the “fabric.”
The FCC Public Safety Bureau on Wednesday denied a petition for reconsideration by China Unicom Americas, which asked the agency to rethink its 2022 decision revoking the company’s Section 214 authority to operate in the U.S. (see 2201270030). The order rejected each of CUA’s arguments. In December, the 9th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court turned down a petition for review from CUA that sought to overturn the 2022 decision (see 2412240032).
Members of the House this week asked FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to send to the Federal Register for publication rules for new multilingual templates for wireless emergency alerts (WEA), which the Public Safety Bureau released in January (see 2501080029).
As the subject of two FCC probes, EchoStar has received backing from various industry groups and others, but it also faces new questions about how well it's complying with the terms of its 5G network buildout. That's according to docket 25-173 and 22-212 comments, which were due Tuesday in a pair of public notices: one on whether EchoStar is using the 2 GHz band for mobile satellite service (MSS), consistent with its authorizations, and the other seeking further comment on VTel Wireless' recon petition regarding an extension of EchoStar's 5G network buildout deadlines (see 2505130003).
The FCC Wireline Bureau on Tuesday reversed four Universal Service Administrative Co. audit decisions denying reimbursements for Lifeline support that Verizon/Alltel provided to eligible residents of tribal lands in North Dakota and South Dakota in 2007. Verizon Wireless acquired Alltel Wireless in 2008.
Verizon representatives expressed general support for FCC rules covering an AWS-3 reauction (see 2504290007) in a meeting with agency staff, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 25-117. “We urged the FCC to move swiftly to get the AWS-3 spectrum in its inventory back into the marketplace after lying fallow for too long,” Verizon said. The meeting included personnel from the Office of Economics and Analytics and the Wireless Bureau.
The FCC asked for comment on whether it should update its “covered list” of unsecure companies to reflect a January finding by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security. BIS found “that the provision of certain connected vehicle hardware or software by certain Chinese- or Russian-controlled entities poses an unacceptable risk to U.S. national security and the safety and security of U.S. persons.” The notice, published by the FCC Public Safety Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology in Tuesday's Daily Digest, asks for comments by June 9 in docket 18-89.
The FCC made limited changes to an NPRM on foreign-ownership rules, as agency officials indicated at last week's meeting, where commissioners approved the item 4-0 (see 2505220056). The FCC posted the NPRM on Tuesday.