The FCC Wireline Bureau on Wednesday asked for a record refresh following up on a March 2020 NPRM (see 2003310039). Comment deadlines will come in a Federal Register notice. The bureau also asked whether “any market consolidation affected parties’ positions on the questions in the Notice,” which is part of the FCC’s efforts to “eliminate outdated and unnecessary regulations.”
Tribal broadband experts stressed during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday the importance of building networks that serve the community’s long-term interests rather than focusing on short-term profits. Panelists also highlighted the growing significance of fiber networks and data centers in advancing tribal digital sovereignty and economic development.
During oral argument Tuesday in federal court regarding consolidated challenges to the FTC's "click-to-cancel" rule, judges pressed the agency about its failure to conduct a preliminary regulatory analysis (PRA). NCTA, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others petitioned the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the rule (see 2411220029), which is aimed at making it easier to cancel negative option contracts where consumers have to actively opt out of monthly subscriptions. The rule was adopted last year, and the compliance deadline is July 14 (see 2505120004).
Telecom carriers started by using AI for “customer care” and sales, but AI use is spreading to networks and other parts of companies, said Tim Hatt, GSMA's head of research and consulting, during an RCR Wireless telecom AI forum Tuesday. “A lot is happening,” he said. There are regional differences, “but really we are [in] a commercialization phase.”
Satellite broadband providers, especially Starlink and Amazon’s Kuiper service, are likely the big winners in the Commerce Department’s rewriting of the BEAD program rules, New Street’s Blair Levin told investors Monday. Smaller providers that use unlicensed spectrum to offer broadband also won, he said. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, slammed the revised rules that the Trump administration released Friday (see 2506060052).
Conservative groups and the Consumer Technology Association argued in reply comments filed by Friday’s deadline that a mandatory transition to ATSC 3.0, as NAB proposed, would fly in the face of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s deregulatory agenda. In its own comments, NAB argued that a mandate is necessary for broadcast competition, saying it's no different from the DTV transition.
Senate Commerce Committee Republicans released the panel's portion of a budget reconciliation bill Thursday night with language that proposes mandating that the FCC sell at least 800 MHz of reallocated spectrum, as expected (see 2506050064). Some communications industry groups praised the measure, but observers said they expect other stakeholders to criticize it. Lobbyists said they expect that Senate Commerce Democrats will likely vote against the proposal, as party-affiliated House Commerce Committee members did last month when that panel marked up its part (see 2505140062) of what became the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (HR-1).
Low-power TV (LPTV) broadcasters said in FCC comments that their industry is dying, and ATSC 3.0 won’t be enough to save it. Those comments, in docket 25-168, were in response to HC2’s petition proposing LPTV stations be allowed to switch to 5G broadcast. NAB disagreed, saying 5G broadcast advocates haven’t done enough to show that it won’t cause unacceptable interference.
The FCC’s “bad labs” order and Further NPRM, approved by commissioners 4-0 last week and posted this week, contains a lengthy cost-of-benefit analysis weighing the costs and risks of not moving forward with the rules. FCC officials noted last week that this was the only major change from the draft (see 2505220056), though the agency also added a paragraph on DOJ's concerns. Other changes were mostly cosmetic, based on a side-by-side comparison.
Rate regulation would harm competition in the broadband marketplace and undermine efforts to close the digital divide, said ACA Connects in a new study released Thursday. The study, conducted in partnership with Cartesian, found four "cascading" effects of rate regulation: less investment, less competition, a slowdown in pricing declines and harm spillover.