Plummeting prices are a challenge for geostationary orbit (GSO) satellite operators, but they ultimately could be a boon by opening markets and otherwise increasing demand, Eutelsat Vice President-Pricing and Analytics Mark Kirley said. During a Global Satellite Operators Association event Thursday, he and other GSO executives said price competition from SpaceX's non-geostationary orbit Starlink system is hitting some markets and applications harder than others. "It's a tough time for [GSO] satellite operators," said Glenn Katz, Telesat chief commercial officer.
In one of the first big antitrust decisions in the second Donald Trump administration, the DOJ sued to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s proposed $14 billion buy of Juniper Networks. The department said its decision, announced Thursday, was based on the proposed deal's competitive effects on the wireless local area network market. Both companies said they will contest the decision, which they called “substantially disconnected from market realities.” The acquisition was pending for more than a year.
Preempt California's regulatory framework for VoIP services, the Cloud Communications Alliance and Cloud Voice Alliance asked the FCC in a petition for declaratory ruling filed Monday (see 2501240002). The California Public Utilities Commission’s pending proceeding on the issue "conflicts with federal policies designed to promote competition, innovation, and affordable communications services," the groups said. They also asked that the FCC reaffirm its "end-to-end jurisdictional analysis as the definitive standard for determining the regulatory treatment of VoIP services."
With President Donald Trump yet to lay out with any detail what course he will chart on spectrum, experts warned Tuesday that the current administration faces the same issues as the last (see 2411140042). With various band studies underway, launched under Joe Biden, there are no obvious bands left to reallocate for exclusive licensed use, experts said at the RCR Wireless Wi-Fi Forum.
Todd Schlekeway, president of NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association, called for changes in how the wireless industry does business with tower companies. Schlekeway's open letter came as earnings season begins for carriers and NATE members.
The FCC Office of Communications Business Opportunities on Tuesday issued small-entity guides on compliance with the agency's wireless handset hearing aid order, "all-in" video pricing order and pole attachment disputes order. It said in docket 23-388 that the hearing aid compatibility rule for handset manufacturers will take effect on or after Dec. 14, 2026, while the hearing aid compatibility rule for nationwide service providers will take effect after June 14, 2027, and after June 13, 2028 for non-nationwide service providers. In docket 23-203, the FCC said that while the all-in pricing order is already in effect, cable operators with annual receipts of $47 million or less have until March 19 to comply. The agency said in docket 17-84 that the pole attachment disputes order went into effect July 25.
A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok, citing Congress’ “well-supported national security concerns.”
T-Mobile and UScellular countered opposition filed against their deal that has T-Mobile acquiring “substantially all” of the smaller provider’s wireless operations, including about 30% of its licensed spectrum. Numerous commercially sensitive details were redacted from the filing posted Friday in docket 24-286. In December, the Rural Wireless Association, EchoStar and Communications Workers of America asked the FCC to reject the deal (see 2412100044), which was announced in May. In the filing, T-Mobile and UScellular pointed to the transaction's economic benefits, laid out (see 2409160029) in a September public interest statement (PIS). “Unsurprisingly, the petitioners and commenters questioning the consumer benefits described in the PIS fail to provide any credible evidence or technical analysis to support their allegations,” the filing said. “Instead, these parties baselessly assert that the Transaction will harm competition among mobile wireless providers and result in higher prices for consumers.”
The FCC revised the reporting templates and certification forms for annual reports from incarcerated people’s communications services providers, said an order Wednesday from the Wireline and the Consumer and Public Affairs bureaus. The changes include expanding the reporting to video IPCS providers, moving detailed facility and contract information to a single worksheet and revising the reporting instructions, the order said. The updates are intended to “both enhance the value and usefulness of the Annual Reports and reduce existing or proposed reporting burdens, while continuing to enable the Commission to monitor the IPCS marketplace,” the order said. The changes “will bring increased transparency to IPCS providers’ rates, charges, and practices, help ensure compliance with the Commission’s IPCS rules,” and allow the FCC to “monitor pricing practices and trends in the IPCS marketplace generally.”
FuboTV's merger with Disney's Hulu+ Live TV will mean two major players in the virtual multichannel video programming distribution landscape -- New YouTube TV and the New Fubo entity -- with an array of much smaller services following in their wake, Ampere Analysis' Andrew Dougert wrote Tuesday. Announced Monday (see 2501060003), the merger could take up to 18 months to close, he said. By then, YouTube TV will likely have around 10.5 million subscribers, while Fubo and Hulu+ Live TV are expected to collectively have nearly 6.4 million, he said. Behind them, EchoStar's Sling TV currently has a little more than 2 million subscribers. The Fubo/Hulu deal has Fubo dropping its litigation seeking to block the Disney/Fox/Warner Bros. Discovery sports streaming joint venture Venu. The parties on Monday filed a stipulation of voluntary dismissal (docket 1:24-cv-01363) with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, asking that the preliminary injunction against Venu (see 2408160040) be lifted.