T-Mobile filed a fully redacted “response” at the FCC on Thursday in docket 24-286, examining its proposed buy of wireless assets from UScellular. The filing came the day before responses were due to a series of questions on the deal that the FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics posed (see 2412270031). T-Mobile didn't comment Thursday. UScellular representatives, meanwhile, met with FCC staff about the information request it received the same day as T-Mobile. “UScellular discussed its ongoing work to respond to the Information Request along with the relevant UScellular custodian(s) for each request,” said a filing on the meeting: “Commission staff also answered questions related to the Information Request’s instructions and definitions, as well as certain of the requests themselves.”
In response to challenges brought by competitor AT&T, the Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division issued decisions on Thursday asking T-Mobile to drop two different advertising claims. The first was that “Families Can Save 20% Every Month Versus AT&T and Verizon.” NAD said the ad doesn’t inform consumers “that the 20% savings claim is calculated by including the cost of third-party streaming services on top of the price of AT&T’s and Verizon’s monthly wireless plans.” The second claim was that with T-Mobile consumers “Save On Every Plan vs. The Other Big Guys.” Here too “T-Mobile included the cost of certain third-party streaming services, that are bundled with a T-Mobile plan, on top of the price of AT&T and Verizon wireless plans,” NAD said. In response, T-Mobile said while it disagrees with NAD, it will comply with the decisions.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau on Thursday handed down a $100,000 fine against Pacific Data Systems for allegedly failing to file telecommunications reporting worksheets with the Universal Service Administrative Co. The bureau noted that it proposed the fine in 2023 and the company sought a reduction or cancelation “on the grounds that it experienced personnel issues that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a two-and-a-half year period of noncompliance that has since been corrected.” After reviewing the record, the bureau said, “We find no reason to cancel, withdraw, or reduce the proposed penalty, and we therefore affirm the proposed $100,000 forfeiture penalty and reject Pacific’s request to cancel or reduce the forfeiture.” Based in Guam, the company provides local exchange services. The bureau said it failed to file 13 worksheets required by the commission’s rules from Aug. 1, 2019, to Feb. 1, 2022, “despite several reminders from USAC.”
With the FCC considering an NPRM and notice of inquiry as the agency's next steps on AI, the issue of AI and robocalls will only grow in importance, experts said Thursday during an FCBA webinar. They also agreed that generative AI could yield new tools that can help curb unwanted and illegal texts and calls.
President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday he plans to nominate Senate Armed Services Committee Republican staffer Olivia Trusty to the FCC seat that current Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel will vacate Jan. 20. Multiple former FCC officials and communications sector lobbyists told us they expected Trump would also announce as soon as Thursday that Senate Commerce Committee Republican Telecom Policy Director Arielle Roth is his pick for NTIA administrator. A range of ex-FCC officials and other observers previously named Trusty and Roth as top contenders for the Rosenworcel seat, although some believed Roth’s ties to Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, made her a slight front-runner (see 2412110046).
The FCC’s bureau-level rejections of four content-based legal challenges against network-owned TV stations Thursday could complicate future agency moves against broadcasters over their reporting but won’t prevent it, attorneys and free speech advocates told us. When he becomes chair next week, Commissioner Brendan Carr could quickly reverse the Media Bureau and Enforcement Bureau decisions rejecting challenges against ABC-, Fox-, NBC- and CBS- owned stations. However, doing so could require the agency to defend upending decades of precedent, broadcaster and public interest attorneys told us. The decisions “draw a bright line at a moment when clarity about government interference with the free press is needed more than ever,” said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a release Thursday. “The FCC should not be the President’s speech police.”
FCC retirements: Rosemary Harold and David Snavely, Media Bureau; William Dever, Office of the General Counsel; Joyce Jones, Wireless Bureau, Kim Wild, Lyle Ishida and Brian Ulmer, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau; Anthony Serafini, Office of Engineering and Technology; and Katie King, Wireline Competition Bureau... National Content and Technology Cooperative names Christy Drummond, ex-Windstream, vice president-marketing and communications ... Gary Hanson named chairman, South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, succeeding Kristie Fiegen, who remains a commissioner; Chris Nelson elected vice chairman ... Warner Bros. Discovery names to board SoFi Technologies CEO Anthony Noto and IAC CEO Joey Levin ... Communications technology firm BCN promotes Ryan Kelly to chief revenue officer, Jeanne Duca to chief marketing officer ... Trellix expands Kurt Mills' role to senior vice president-global channel chief … HP names Carol Surface, ex-Apple, as chief people officer, succeeding Kristen Ludgate, retired; Surface begins March 24.
Manufacturers of covered set-top devices and multichannel video programming distributors must make closed captioning display settings “readily accessible” to the deaf and hard of hearing by Aug. 17, 2026, said an FCC Media Bureau public notice Wednesday. The agency adopted the readily accessible requirement in July (see 2407180037). The requirement is intended to make it easier for caption users to modify the color, fonts, sizes and other features of closed captions.
The hearing proceeding on the TV and radio licenses of Antonio Guel and the Hispanic Christian Community Network will go forward with a paper hearing process rather than an in-person one, ruled FCC Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin in an order Wednesday. The hearing proceeding is based in part on allegations that Guel pretended to sell his stations to relatives while actually retaining control of them and made misrepresentations to the agency (see 2408280048). Both Guel and the Enforcement Bureau support the paper process, the order said. A written process will “conserve the Commission’s resources in that it will not be necessary to engage the additional personnel needed to conduct a live hearing,” the order said. The affirmative case is due Feb. 21, response filings April 7 and final reply April 28, the order said.
Auto sector manufacturers and importers will have 425 days to cut from their supply chains Chinese software that enables automated driving systems or enables a vehicle to connect to the outside world at a frequency above 450 MHz, according to a final rule from the Bureau of Industry and Security set for Thursday's Federal Register and effective March 17. The agency issued a proposed rule in September (see 2409220001). Chinese hardware that enables out-of-car communication above 450 MHz will be banned beginning in the 2029 model year, or, for items that aren't associated with a model year, before Jan. 1, 2029. The final rule adds that later imports that would otherwise be banned, that are to repair completed connected vehicles model year 2029 or earlier, will also be allowed. Examples of these sorts of hardware are telematics control units, cellular modems and antennas that collect data from GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes, BMS and other units. The agency said the list of parts is not exhaustive but clarified the rule to say the hardware must "directly enable" the connected capabilities. Companies from adversary countries cannot design or manufacture these systems because the administration says they could imperil infrastructure and "enable mass collection of sensitive information, including geolocation data, audio and video recordings, and other pattern-of-life analysis."