Children’s Health Defense (CHD) urged the FCC to back off its review of how the commission can further reduce wireless red tape and instead address the Environmental Health Trust’s August RF safety petition (see 2508070032). The group's filing came as the FCC is hit with hundreds of submissions -- ahead of any comment deadline -- opposing changes in a wireless infrastructure NPRM that commissioners approved at September's meeting.
Three House Commerce Committee Democratic leaders pressed NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth on Tuesday to follow “the letter” of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act as the agency rolls out funding from the $42.5 billion BEAD program, citing “significant concerns” about the Trump administration's implementation of the initiative. They in part objected to President Donald Trump's draft proposal to require NTIA to potentially curtail non-deployment BEAD funding for states that the administration determines have AI laws that are overly burdensome (see 2511200057).
The FCC on Tuesday released the three items teed up for commissioner votes at the next meeting Dec. 18, led by another FCC attack on illegal robocalls and unsecure networks, possibly with Chinese ties. Commissioners will also take up low-power TV (LPTV) and TV translator rules. The December agenda is much lighter than those in recent months (see 2511240045).
The two major differences between the draft and final versions of the FCC's NPRM on rules for an upper C-band auction were questions about a potential tribal window for the spectrum and about future satellite and other uses. Commissioners approved the notice 3-0 at Thursday's meeting (see 2511200046), where the changes were discussed. The final NPRM was posted in Monday’s Daily Digest.
FCC General Counsel Adam Candeub faced some tough questions as he defended the agency's order establishing a regime that's designed to promote use of the 4.9 GHz band by giving the FirstNet Authority access to the spectrum (see 2509160005). A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral argument Monday.
Sinclair made an unsolicited offer to buy all outstanding shares of E.W. Scripps in a deal that it said could proceed under existing broadcast-ownership rules, according to an SEC filing Monday. “We are confident that under existing rules, including the national cap, the transaction can be completed in a timely manner with limited select divestitures,” the company said in the filing. The proposal includes provisions “to reinforce the combined company’s journalistic independence.”
A social media post by President Donald Trump on Sunday condemning proposals to do away with the national cap on TV station ownership drew a flurry of responses Monday from NAB, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook and Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, who wants the cap to remain in place. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has been widely seen as likely to do away with the cap, but he has also been clear about his deference to Trump. “If this would also allow the Radical Left Networks to ‘enlarge,’ I would not be happy,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “ABC & NBC, in particular, are a disaster - A VIRTUAL ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY. They should be viewed as an illegal campaign to the Radical Left. NO EXPANSION OF THE FAKE NEWS NETWORKS. If anything, make them SMALLER! President DJT.”
Industry groups and companies don’t want the FCC to overhaul emergency alerting, but public safety communications officials are calling on the agency to expand alerting to streaming and additional devices, according to reply comments posted last week (docket 25-224) in response to an August NPRM (see 2508070037). CTIA, NAB, T-Mobile and alerting equipment manufacturer Digital Alert Systems said wireless emergency alerts (WEAs) and the emergency alert system (EAS) already meet the FCC’s objectives. However, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) said alerts need to be delivered through the media platforms that people most commonly use.
Groups representing financial institutions called on the FCC to impose tougher Stir/Shaken rules in comments filed last week (docket 17-97) in response to a Wireline Bureau request (see 2508280040). Telecom industry groups and companies also sought tweaks to how illegal robocalls are addressed, through Stir/Shaken and beyond.
A state law barring the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) from sharing information about Lifeline program subscribers with other government agencies, including immigration authorities, means the state can no longer do its own Lifeline subscriber verifications, according to the FCC. The Wireline Bureau ordered Thursday that the state could no longer opt out of using the National Lifeline Accountability Database (NLAD) federal verification system. "Going forward, federal processes will be used to conduct eligibility verifications and perform duplicate checks for federal Lifeline program applicants in California."