Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
House leaders intend to hold a floor vote on the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-979) in early December, lead sponsor Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., and National Religious Broadcasters CEO Troy Miller separately confirmed to us. HR-979 and Senate companion S-315 would require the Department of Transportation to mandate that future automobiles include AM radio technology, mostly affecting electric vehicles. Supporters are optimistic that House passage of HR-979 could increase momentum for the measure, as that would represent the first time the lower chamber has cleared the legislation. The House Commerce Committee advanced HR-979 in September (see 2509170068), while the Senate Commerce Committee advanced the slightly different S-315 in February.
The FCC on Friday released the text of an order overturning a January ruling and NPRM addressing the Salt Typhoon cyberattacks, which were approved during the final days of the Biden administration. The reversal order was approved 2-1 Thursday, with Commissioner Anna Gomez dissenting (see 2511200047). It found that the January ruling was “an unlawful and ineffective attempt to show that the agency was taking some type of action on cybersecurity issues.”
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.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
The House Communications Subcommittee on Tuesday advanced a new version of the American Broadband Deployment Act (HR-2289) that combined language from 22 GOP-led connectivity permitting bills originally slated for the markup session (see 2511170048). However, the subpanel’s party-line 16-12 vote on the package reflected Democrats’ ongoing opposition. The House Commerce Committee during the last Congress similarly divided along party lines on a previous version of the broadband package, which never reached the floor amid strong Democratic resistance (see 2305230067).
The FCC received mostly support for a proposal to allow correctional facilities to jam cell signals, with an eye on curbing contraband phones, according to comments filed during the federal government shutdown. Wireless carriers have long opposed jamming but haven't filed comments. The FCC unanimously approved a further NPRM in September, with Commissioner Anna Gomez calling on the agency to move cautiously as it revisits the issue (see 2509300063).
The FCC began to restart operations Thursday that were suspended during the government shutdown (see 2509300060) but immediately extended most post-shutdown deadlines in a bid to control the anticipated avalanche of filings. The agency furloughed 81% of its staff when the shutdown began Oct. 1 (see 2510010065). FCC staff and industry attorneys had raised alarms about what they saw as unclear filing requirements (see 2510160044). The 42-day shutdown, the longest in modern U.S. history, ended late Wednesday night when President Donald Trump signed a legislative package that restored federal appropriations at FY 2025 levels through Jan. 30.
SpaceX and EchoStar on Wednesday submitted to the FCC updated license purchase agreements and public interest statements regarding SpaceX's proposed spectrum license purchases from EchoStar. The original public interest statements in docket 25-302 covered SpaceX's planned purchase of AWS-4 and AWS-H block spectrum and of EchoStar's authorizations for U.S. market access for 2 GHz mobile satellite service. The updated EchoStar and SpaceX filings also incorporate SpaceX's purchase of EchoStar's unpaired AWS-3 spectrum, a deal that was announced last week (see 2511060004).