As part of quantum computing company IonQ's planned purchase of Capella Space (see 2505080048), they're asking the FCC to sign off on transfer of Capella's licenses to IonQ. In an FCC Space Bureau application posted Wednesday, the companies said the deal also needs NOAA approval. They said Capella has FCC authorizations to launch and operate 15 satellites and has four in orbit now. The Capella acquisition is intended to strengthen IonQ’s position in quantum networking technologies to be used to build the quantum internet and related infrastructure for the space economy, the application said.
T-Mobile representatives met with FCC staffers to discuss the difficulty of calculating eligible and supported households for the purposes of fixed wireless access as the agency considers the company’s proposed buy of wireless assets from UScellular. Parts of the filing, posted Wednesday in docket 24-286, were redacted.
AT&T reached an agreement with Lumen to buy substantially all the company’s mass markets fiber business for $5.75 billion in cash, AT&T said Wednesday. The business line has about 1 million fiber customers and reaches more than 4 million locations across 11 U.S. states, AT&T said. It said it hopes to close the deal in the second half of this year.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr faced pushback Wednesday from Democrats on the House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee about the legality of the commission’s pressure campaign against communications sector companies’ diversity, equity and inclusion programs and over the agency’s workforce reductions. Subpanel Republicans spun in favor of the FCC’s efficiency and highlighted other actions the commission has taken since Carr became chairman Jan. 20.
Bandwidth executives met with staff from the Public Safety and Wireline bureaus on interconnection issues (see 2503100030), according to a filing posted Tuesday in docket 21-479. “Bandwidth supports the transition to all-IP networks and wants to work with the Commission to speed the transition to IP while ensuring that all calls, and especially calls to 911, are delivered without interruption during that transition,” it said. The executives discussed “the ongoing difficulties faced by companies like Bandwidth that seek to continue to successfully deliver E911 calls nationwide as the industry transitions to more [next-generation] 911 service arrangements.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau announced Tuesday that there's “sufficient funding available to fully meet” the Universal Service Administrative Co.’s estimated demand for Category 1 and Category 2 requests for E-rate support in funding year 2025. In March, USAC estimated that the total demand for the year will be $3.225 billion, including an estimated demand of $1.806 billion for Category 1 services and $1.418 billion for Category 2 services, the bureau said. The E-rate program inflation-based cap for the year is $5.059 billion. The bureau directed USAC to fully fund all requests and use $500 million in E-rate funds unused in prior years “to offset the collection requirements needed to fully meet demand for such services.”
The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued a warning to Miami’s Biscayne Towing & Salvage for allegedly operating a radio that was interfering with 156.8 MHz (VHF Marine Channel 16), following a complaint by the U.S. Coast Guard. Operation on the frequency “is reserved for the marine radio service and is for ship to ship or ship to shore (coast station) operation,” said a notice posted Tuesday. It gave the business 10 days to report back on what steps it has taken to ensure the interference has stopped and won't happen again.
The FCC Wireless Bureau announced Tuesday that it found a spectrum transaction between Grain Management and T-Mobile to be “acceptable for filing” and started a pleading cycle. The companies said in March that Grain Management would buy all of T-Mobile's 800 MHz spectrum in exchange for cash and Grain's 600 MHz spectrum portfolio (see 2503210033).
Biennial recertifications of incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) study area boundary data are due June 30, the FCC Office of Economics and Analytics and Wireline Bureau said Tuesday. ILECs and state commissions that have volunteered to file study area boundary data on ILECs operating in certain jurisdictions must review and certify that data every two years, according to the public notice.
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau sought comment Tuesday on two petitions from ClearCaptions seeking waivers to rules for the IP-captioned telephone service (IP CTS) and the telecommunications relay service (TRS) fund. The company provides IP CTS that's supported by the fund. Comments are due June 19, replies July 7, in docket 03-123.