The FCC Wireline Bureau suspended “indefinitely” deadlines to file public comments and reply comments on a Talton petition seeking a waiver of the commission’s rules capping the rates for audio and video for incarcerated people provided to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The suspension came after the United Church of Christ (UCC) Media Justice Ministry protested Talton’s failure to provide data that the ministry needs to comment on the petition (see 2505020024).
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau this week released the telecom relay service (TRS) funding and payment formulas for the program year beginning July 1. The report is based on numbers calculated by TRS administrator Rolka Loube Associates. The rates listed for the next program year are $6.1229 per minute for traditional TRS (TTY), $7.2539 for speech-to-speech service, and $2.7867 for captioned telephone service. All the rates have increased sharply since the 2020-21 program year, led by TTY, which is up 63.2%, the report said.
USTelecom urged the FCC to reject an April filing that sought an “immediate halt” of four Wireline Bureau orders released in March whose goal was to quicken copper retirements (see 2503200056). Filing as the Irregulators, LTC Consulting and X-labs said the bureau shouldn’t be allowed to issue the order on delegated authority without commission debate or public comment.
Arguments that employment and labor concerns aren't germane to Skydance Media's pending acquisition of Paramount Global and shouldn't be considered by the FCC aren't correct, according to Fuse Media and Teamsters Local 399. In a docket 24-275 filing posted Tuesday to recap a meeting with FCC Media Bureau and Office of General Counsel staffers, Fuse and the union said the transaction directly ties to likely job cuts at New Paramount, including at stations owned and operated by CBS. Station staffing can affect a licensee's ability to uphold the localism part of the public interest standard, they said. Fuse and the union suggested a station-level staffing requirement that would keep full-time employment stable for eight years. It also would bar New Paramount from consolidating operations across stations or outsourcing work previously done by full-time staffers.
Mountain Communications will pay a $12,000 civil penalty after reaching a settlement with the FCC Enforcement Bureau over unauthorized transfers of control, said a consent decree released Tuesday. Mountain self-reported four prior transactions that resulted in a minority owner, Larry Sisler, acquiring 100% ownership in the company. Mountain didn’t get FCC approval for the transfers, the consent decree said. Along with the monetary penalty, Mountain has agreed to create a compliance plan and file compliance reports with the FCC for three years.
The U.S. has a variety of paths to reach 600 MHz of high-power spectrum for carriers' use, the often-discussed goal of Congress, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr told reporters Tuesday following remarks at CTIA’s 5G Summit. The challenges that China presents also dominated discussions.
The Media Bureau is seeking comment on HC2’s petition asking the FCC to allow low-power broadcasters to transmit using the 5G broadcast standard, said a public notice Friday. Comments are due in docket 25-168 June 2, replies July 1. HC2 has argued that the standard, which some view as a competitor to ATSC 3.0, provides an opportunity for a flagging LPTV industry to broadcast to mobile devices (see 2504030053).
UL Solutions asked the FCC to further extend the deadline from May 3 to June 13 to complete its initial work as lead administrator in the agency’s voluntary cyber trust mark program (see 2503040062). The Public Safety Bureau previously extended the original March deadline by 60 days (see 2503050025).
Representatives of Alaska Communications spoke with FCC Wireline Bureau staff about the status of the carrier’s participation in the Alaska Connect Fund. “We stated that the company expects to meet its final deployment obligations under ACF Phase I by December 31” and “also provided an update on the status of Alaska’s participation in the BEAD Program,” said a filing posted Monday (docket 23-328).
NextNav told the FCC it's working with location and monitoring services (LMS) licensees to address concerns about the company's proposal that the FCC reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band to enable a “terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing services. Initial comments were due last week on the FCC’s broad investigation of the NextNav proposal and other GPS issues (see 2504290042).