The Wireline Bureau reminded recipients in the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program that they must file status updates with the FCC every 90 days. The next due date is July 2, said a notice in Tuesday’s Daily Digest.
WorldNet Telecommunications representatives spoke with FCC Wireline Bureau staff about “the significant issues and barriers it and other broadband providers now face in obtaining access to electrical utility pole attachments in Puerto Rico.” They discussed how pole attachment issues slowed the ability to offer broadband there, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 17-84.
Federated Wireless executives discussed the need for changes to the citizens broadband radio service rules in a meeting with staff from the FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology, said a filing posted Monday in docket 17-258. Federated officials discussed “several practical, near-term improvements that can be readily implemented” in the band.
CTIA representatives urged the FCC to move quickly to launch the AWS-3 reauction during a meeting with staff from the Office of Economics and Analytics and the Wireless Bureau. They “discussed the strong consensus in the record supporting the use of the Clock-1 auction format and reiterated that changes to geographic licensing are outside the scope of the authority delegated by the Commission to OEA and [the Wireless Bureau] for purposes of the Auction 113 Public Notice,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 25-70.
Comments are due June 16, replies June 23, on the transfer of Arkwest Communications from Spectracom to Fiber Acquisitions, said the FCC Wireline Bureau in a public notice Monday. Arkwest provides phone and broadband service in three Arkansas counties.
Representatives of the State E-Rate Coordinators’ Alliance (SECA) spoke with Wireline Bureau staff on potential changes to rules for the E-rate Category 2 program. “Regarding the confusion between manufacturer right to use licenses and support licenses, and the different requirements of applying for E-Rate funding for each type of license -- some manufacturers bundle support and right to use features in a single license,” said a filing Monday in docket 13-184. “Applying for funding and reimbursement is exceptionally confusing in these situations.”
The FCC Media Bureau and Office of Managing Director revoked the licenses of two Kremling Enterprises-owned radio stations in Texas because they had nearly $14,200 in unpaid regulatory fees, according to an order Friday. KYKM(FM) Yoakum and KTXM(FM) Hallettsville have delinquent fees from FY 2017-21and FY 2024. The order also dismissed pending renewal applications for the stations.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued a $25,000 penalty against the owner of a citizens band radio service station in Rockford, Illinois, for malicious interference and unauthorized operation, said a forfeiture order in Friday’s Daily Digest. Jayme John Leon violated FCC rules by using his station to make one-way transmissions and send nonverbal, indecipherable sound effects over long periods, the order said. His transmissions included recorded comedy routines, air raid siren sounds and “unintelligible, data-like” noises, said the 2023 notice of apparent liability that preceded Friday’s forfeiture order. The NAL said Leon has a history of noncompliance with FCC orders, previously being fined $14,000 for transmitting obscene and profane language. According to the NAL, Leon has said the broadcasts were caused by “a milk crate containing a battery-operated CB radio placed by an unidentified third-party at a corner near his house,” but he hasn’t provided evidence of the device. The Enforcement Bureau gathered evidence that showed the transmissions coming from an antenna on Leon’s home, the NAL said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Communications Subcommittee ranking member Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., pressed the Trump administration Friday to immediately release the $42.5 billion Congress allocated to NTIA’s BEAD program. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in March began a “rigorous review” of BEAD aimed at revamping the program (see 2503050067). Meanwhile, National Lifeline Association Chairman David Dorwart marked the one-year anniversary of the formal lapse of the FCC’s affordable connectivity program (see 2405310070).
The New York office of the FCC Enforcement Bureau sent a warning to Ray Dolph Brown and Wilsonia Brown about pirate radio broadcasts emanating from their property in the Bronx, said an agency notice in Thursday’s Daily Digest. EB agents found unauthorized radio broadcasts coming from the property in February, the notice said. It warned that the landowners could face up to a $2.4 million penalty.