Globalstar is at the center of a regulatory tussle between the FCC and Chinese government over interference with Globalstar's HIBLEO-4 satellite system. The culprit seemingly was China's BeiDou/Compass global navigation satellite system. Correspondence between the commission and China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) shows a back-and-forth disagreement about BeiDou. We obtained 142 pages of that correspondence -- letters and emails between the two -- via a Freedom of Information Request filed with the FCC in October. The request was fulfilled at the end of February. Our request was for all written communications with MIIT Jan. 1-Oct. 19, 2023.
Pointing to the FCC denying SpaceX permission for direct-to-device operations in the 2 GHz band (see 2403270002), Sateliot in a Space Bureau filing posted Thursday argued that its pending petition for U.S. market access shouldn't be subject to similar dismissal. Sateliot has requested FCC OK for its proposed narrowband constellation of 10 small satellites operating in the 2 GHz band that would provide IoT applications on a wholesale basis in areas where partner mobile network operators lack terrestrial coverage. In an amendment to its pending petition, Sateliot said the FCC's 2010 decision to restrict additional mobile satellite service (MSS) access to the 2 GHz band was reasonable then but didn't foresee adoption of the agency's smallsat rules, which are based on compatibility with existing and future operations. It said the agency also didn't foresee standards-based, multiband IoT equipment compatible with terrestrial operations. Given those changed circumstances, the FCC should consider a waiver on the outdated restriction of additional MSS operations in the 2 GHz band, Sateliot said. Commission rules require that smallsat systems are compatible with existing operations and not constrain additional access to the spectrum, it said. Sateliot said it complies with those requirements due to its limited constellation size, its provision of connectivity only in the absence of MNO terrestrial coverage, and its use of standards-based IoT terminals compatible with terrestrial operations.
The full FCC unanimously upheld the Enforcement Bureau’s revocation of Pennsylvania radio broadcaster Roger Wahl’s FCC license for WQZS(FM) Meyersdale (see 2304120067) in an order on review in Thursday’s Daily Digest. Wahl’s license was designated for hearing after he pleaded guilty to a felony and several misdemeanors involving attempting to arrange a woman’s sexual assault. Wahl took nude pictures of the victim using a camera he concealed in her bathroom, impersonated her on a dating website, and later tried to destroy evidence of his crimes. Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin terminated Wahl’s hearing after he missed numerous filing deadlines, and Wahl also later missed the deadline to appeal the ALJ’s decision, Thursday’s order said. In his appeal, Wahl argued that the crimes didn’t intersect with his radio station, didn’t involve fraud and bodily injury, and represented a single “crime of passion” rather than a pattern of behavior. The FCC disagreed. “We find that an extended course of premeditated conduct cannot fairly be characterized as ‘an isolated crime of passion,'” the FCC said. Wahl’s “lack of candor in tampering with evidence is a form of fraudulent representation,” Thursday’s order said. “While his victim did not suffer bodily injury, his criminal conduct foreseeably placed his victim at risk of sexual assault," the FCC said. “We find Mr. Wahl’s offenses to be egregious and render him unqualified to be a Commission licensee."
The FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee, which will have a special focus on AI, held its first meeting under its new charter Thursday at FCC headquarters. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the FCC eagerly awaits the group’s work on AI and robocalls. The group also heard reports from FCC staff about several consumer issues before the agency, including the affordable connectivity program's demise (see 2404020075). CAC last met in August (see 2208300059).
Comments are due April 29, replies May 13, on a proposed reinstated collection by the FCC of Form 395-A, which gathers multichannel video programming distributors' workforce composition data, the Media Bureau said Wednesday. The Form 395-A Further NPRM was adopted 3-2 in February alongside an order reinstating collection of broadcaster workforce demographic data via Form 395-B (see 2402220078). Comments are to be submitted in docket 98-204.
The Utah Public Service Commission granted SpaceX’s request to relinquish its eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation, the PSC ordered Tuesday. The PSC made the company an ETC in 2021 so that it could participate in the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. But the FCC last year upheld the Wireless Bureau’s 2022 rejection of Starlink’s application for RDOF support (see 2312130027).
The FCC’s unanimous order Tuesday allowing radio stations to use FM boosters to offer geotargeted ads and announcements comes over the objections of the nation’s largest radio broadcasters and NAB's years-long campaign against FCC authorization (see 2209230070. Although Tuesday’s order allows broadcasters to receive only temporary authorization for geotargeted content and seeks comment on procedures for a more permanent process, advocates for the ZoneCast technology pushed by GeoBroadcast Solutions (GBS) see the order as a win and the accompanying Further NPRM as mostly ministerial. “Today marks a monumental victory for small- and minority-owned FM radio stations,” said Roberts Radio CEO Steve Roberts, a longtime proponent of the technology. NAB “is pleased that the Commission is only authorizing the use of GeoBroadcast Solutions’ troubling technology on an experimental basis at this time,” the trade group said.
FCC commissioners will vote on restoring net neutrality rules during the agency's April 25 meeting, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced Wednesday (see 2403290057). Commissioners will consider a declaratory ruling, order, report and order, and order on reconsideration. "A return to the FCC’s overwhelmingly popular and court-approved standard of net neutrality will allow the agency to serve once again as a strong consumer advocate of an open internet," Rosenworcel said. Also on April's agenda is a draft NPRM about georouting 988 calls (see 2404030051).
Xplore hopes to launch an Xcube-1 remote sensing small satellite on a SpaceX rideshare between Q4 this year and Q2 2025, the company told the FCC Space Bureau in an application posted Tuesday seeking permission to launch and operate the satellite. The company said it plans a low earth orbit constellation that will provide remote sensing data products and edge computing on multiple payload computers.
The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comments due May 2, replies May 18, on a February petition seeking launch of a rulemaking that authorizes 5/5 MHz broadband deployments in the 900 MHz band. Petitioners argue that “expanded 5/5 megahertz broadband will support growing demand for wide-area, private, and secure wireless broadband networks for utilities, critical infrastructure, and business enterprise entities, among other benefits,” the bureau said Tuesday. The Enterprise Wireless Alliance, Anterix and electric utilities filed the petition (see 2402290064). “We seek comment generally on the Petition and its request that the Commission provide an option for 5/5 megahertz broadband networks in the 900 MHz band through a voluntary transition process,” the bureau said: “In particular, we seek comment on whether existing rules would be sufficient to protect incumbent narrowband operations from interference, as well as whether those rules would be sufficient to protect operations in adjacent spectrum bands.” Comments should be filed in docket 24-99.