The FCC Media Bureau’s Audio Division has dismissed several low-power FM applications from religious organizations because they didn’t meet the agency’s localism requirements and contained false certifications, according to letters in Friday’s Daily Digest. LPFM applications from Yahweh HTX, Holly USA Espirit Church, Radio Casa de Adoracion TX, USA Church in the Hills and Church of the Last Call were dismissed for making false certifications about the locations of their transmitter site and the residences of their board members, according to similar letters from the Audio Division.
The FCC should open an inquiry on the financial viability of PBS and NPR stations in the wake of the end of federal funding, said the Center for American Rights in an email to acting Media Bureau Chief Erin Boone, according to an ex parte filing Friday in docket 25-322. The FCC should ask “PBS and NPR and their affiliated stations to be transparent, honest, and proactive about this new landscape.” The email pointed to public broadcasting stations that have announced impending closure or plans to end their PBS affiliations (see 2512120040). CAR first pushed for an inquiry into PBS and NPR stations in a filing last month (see 2512110052). America’s Public Television Stations has said such a proceeding would “needlessly divert time and resources away from local public television stations’ public service to their local communities.”
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau on Friday extended for six months, through July 16, the conditional certifications for Rogervoice to provide IP captioned telephone service and for Tive to provide video relay service, supported by the telecommunications relay service fund. In 2024, the bureau granted Rogervoice conditional certification to provide service for a period of two years, which was set to end Tuesday, the order said.
Nexstar’s proposed $6.2 billion purchase of Tegna must be approved to stave off the “five-alarm fire” of competition from streaming and tech companies, Nexstar and Tegna said in a joint reply filing posted in docket 25-331 Friday. The FCC has authority to waive the national cap, they said, while all the entities objecting to the deal -- including Newsmax, Free Press and EchoStar -- lack standing to participate in the proceeding (see 2601020025).
Astranis Space Technologies is seeking FCC Space Bureau approval to launch and operate a geostationary orbit satellite at 131 degrees west. In an application posted Wednesday, Astranis said the satellite would provide Ku- and Ka-band connectivity to consumers, governments and enterprises in North America.
At least two dozen companies are in various stages of in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing (ISAM) operations, but spectrum access represents a severe bottleneck that prevents them from launching and operating missions to their fullest potential, Stellar Frequencies said in an FCC filing posted Thursday. Stellar CEO Peter Dohm met with Space Bureau staffers and advised that NTIA should declare ISAM activity a space research service until ITU determines a new service definition for such activities. The company also said ISAM should have primary rights to the 13.25-13.4 GHz space research band, allowing for downlinks of spacecraft telemetry and mission payload data. In addition, Stellar called for greater access to the 2360-2390 MHz band, which is currently authorized for commercial space launch service to uplink telecommand operations.
The FCC sought comment Thursday on a proposal to transfer telecom assets from Hayneville Telephone and Hayneville Fiber to Synergy. Hayneville Telephone is an incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) providing traditional voice, long-distance and broadband services to rural customers in central Alabama, the Wireline Bureau said. Synergy, a subsidiary of Western Kentucky Rural Telephone Co-op, is based in Tennessee and is the parent of Ardmore Telephone Co., an ILEC serving customers in Alabama and Tennessee. Comments are due Jan. 29, replies Feb. 5, in docket 25-312.
CTIA is urging the FCC to make a determination that its pole attachment regulatory authority extends to utility-owned light poles. In a filing posted Wednesday (docket 17-84) to recap a meeting with Wireline Bureau staffers, CTIA said that interpretation of Section 224 of the Communications Act, which covers pole attachments, would be consistent with the FCC's goals of accelerating broadband deployment and reducing barriers to it. "The best reading of Section 224's plain language" points to the law providing a nondiscriminatory access right to light poles, the group said.
AT&T has completed its purchase of 700 MHz and 3.45 GHz licenses from the former UScellular for $1 billion, said TDS, the smaller carrier’s parent company, on Tuesday. The FCC Wireless Bureau approved the deal in December (see 2512030059). UScellular was renamed Array as it exits as a regional wireless carrier.
Comments are due Jan. 27, replies Feb. 3, in docket 25-301 on the sale of Epic Touch and Elkhart Telephone Co. to IdeaTek, said an FCC Wireline Bureau notice in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. Epic Touch and Elkhart Telephone -- both based in Kansas -- are currently owned by a collection of family trusts. IdeaTek provides broadband and telecom services in Kansas and Missouri.