The FCC Enforcement Bureau notified the Beachwalk (At Hallandale) Condominium Association that it’s suspected of interfering with public safety communications through the use of a signal booster in the 799-805 MHz band. Agents detected the transmissions in January, emitting from a property that’s part of the Miami-area association, the bureau said.
The FCC Public Safety Bureau sought comment Wednesday on a request by the Monsey Fire District in New York to modify its private land mobile radio system by adding an 800 MHz specialized mobile radio to its two-site conventional system. Comments are due May 29, replies June 13, in universal licensing system file number 0011089434. The FCC posted the notice on its website's homepage.
The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment Wednesday on a proposal by the C-band Relocation Payment Clearinghouse to “wind down and cease operations on or about June 30.” Comments are due May 29 in docket 18-122. “In its request, the RPC states that it has completed all substantive functions required under the Commission’s rules and the 3.7 GHz Report and Order,” the bureau said: “The RPC notes that all reimbursement claims have been reviewed, every claim approved in whole or in part has been invoiced, and only a single claim remains pending appeal.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau on Wednesday granted a limited waiver of the support reduction schedule for some recipients of Connect America Fund high-cost support that missed a July 1 network performance testing certification deadline. The waiver applies to more than 20 companies.
As greater numbers of satellites are launched, the FCC is making progress trimming its backlog of satellite and earth station applications, FCC Space Bureau Chief Jay Schwarz said Tuesday as the Satellite Industry Association released its 2025 state of the satellite industry report. A record 11,539 operational satellites were in orbit as of the end of 2024, up more than 1,900 from year-end 2023, SIA said.
SpaceX could be the biggest beneficiary as the FCC takes a hard look at EchoStar's compliance with milestones attached to its 5G network buildout. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's inquiry into EchoStar's compliance with buildout deadlines (see 2505120074) "clearly originate[s]" from SpaceX, LightShed Partners' Walt Piecyk wrote Tuesday. He said the FCC probe appears to be particularly focused on EchoStar's use of the S band -- spectrum real estate that SpaceX wants.
The FCC Media Bureau gave broadcasters a one-year extension on the audible crawl waiver in an order Monday. The audible crawl rule requires broadcasters to provide an audio version of on-screen graphically displayed emergency information, but the FCC has repeatedly waived it since 2015 (see 2412300029). The current waiver was set to expire May 27, but the new order extends it to May 27, 2026. NAB had requested an 18-month waiver extension and has also petitioned the FCC to make it easier for broadcasters to satisfy the audible crawl requirement. Last year, the FCC allowed the waiver to briefly lapse, which caused some TV broadcasters to cease showing weather radar maps in case it was seen as a rule violation (see 2411290007).
The North American Numbering Council (NANC) will meet at 2 p.m. June 24 at FCC headquarters, the Wireline Bureau said Monday. The agenda includes votes on reports and recommendations by the numbering administration oversight working group, including performance reviews for the North American numbering plan administrator, reassigned numbers database administrator and North American numbering plan billing and collection agent.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr reportedly opened an investigation into EchoStar's compliance with 5G buildout obligations connected to its spectrum licenses and directed FCC staff to seek comment on reconsidering a 2019 extension of buildout deadlines. In a letter published Monday by The Wall Street Journal, Carr said EchoStar has repeatedly failed to meet the buildout requirements associated with its spectrum licenses in the lower 700 MHz E block, the H block and the 600 MHz band. "That history is relevant today. Currently before the FCC are filings from EchoStar that claim to satisfy the bureau’s new December 2024 buildout obligation. But questions remain regarding these submissions," Carr wrote. Failure by EchoStar to meet its new buildout requirements "could result in the loss of its spectrum licenses and significant financial payments." Carr also condemned the 2019 extension as the result of negotiations behind closed doors, saying the extension allowed EchoStar to "kick the can down the road." The letter also said the FCC would issue a public notice "seeking comment on the scope and scale of [mobile satellite service] utilization in the 2 GHz band that is currently licensed to EchoStar or its affiliates."
Keep the 25-year licensing term for submarine cable systems, and don't extend licensing requirements to non-owners such as cable capacity lessees, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce told the FCC Monday in docket 24-523. It said subsea cable licensees need a clearly established process for license revocation, and the agency should make clear that new cable landing license regulations won't retroactively apply to existing licenses.