Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and dozens of other congressional Democrats spoke Monday against FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s proposals to undo the commission's July 2024 order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and another to fund Wi-Fi on school buses (see 2509030064). The commission is likely to approve the orders’ rescission during its Tuesday meeting along party lines over E-rate advocates’ misgivings (see 2509260046).
The FCC Office of Managing Director has revised on delegated authority its manner of ruling on regulatory fee waiver requests, according to a public notice in docket 25-219 Monday. In the past, OMD has resolved such requests by issuing individual letter decisions, but going forward, OMD will periodically issue public notices that list actions on all requests for waiver, reduction and/or deferral of fees, the PN said. “This change to our customary procedure implements the Commission’s goal of streamlining internal review processes and will enable OMD to more quickly resolve those matters while fulfilling its obligation to thoroughly review the record for each request and petition for reconsideration,” the PN said. More novel and controversial requests will still get letter decisions, OMD said. Monday’s PN included a list of OMD decisions on regulatory fee waiver requests for a host of entities, some from as far back as 2019. In a separate order, OMD also provided more detailed denials of a number of requests for financial hardship regulatory fee waivers. Petitions for reconsideration or applications for review of the decisions must be filed within 30 days, the order said.
Groups representing ISPs Monday asked the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear en banc an August decision upholding the FCC’s data breach notification rules, despite a Congressional Review Act action overturning similar requirements included with other privacy rules in 2017 (see 2508140052). Judge Jane Stranch wrote the 2-1 decision. Judge Richard Griffin dissented, saying the order was unlawful and should be set aside.
The Benefit of the Bargain (BoB) version of BEAD is shaping up to be "a tremendous success," with state plans to date coming in $15 billion under what they were allocated, NTIA head Arielle Roth said Monday. Speaking at SCTE's TechExpo event in Washington, Roth said NTIA is also pressing states in some cases to submit cheaper final proposals.
Wireless carriers have traditionally opposed the jamming of wireless signals at correctional facilities and supported managed access systems, but with FCC commissioners set to approve on Tuesday a Further NPRM proposed by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, the industry has had little to say in recent weeks (see 2509050055). Industry observers said the draft FNPRM is likely to be approved largely as proposed.
House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Senate Homeland Security Investigations Subcommittee ranking member Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and other Hill Democratic leaders castigated FCC Chairman Brendan Carr during what amounted to a one-party bicameral hearing Monday for his mid-September comments against ABC and parent Disney widely perceived as influencing the network’s since-reversed decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air (see 2509180066). Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcast stopped preempting Kimmel Friday night, as expected (see 2509260054). The Senate Commerce Committee is eyeing potential dates soon for an FCC oversight hearing that ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington and other Democrats have been requesting to confront Carr (see 2509220059), lobbyists told us.
The Utilities Technology Council and several of its member companies met with FCC Wireless Bureau staff to express support for a proposed rulemaking to authorize 5/5 MHz broadband deployments in the 900 MHz band (see 2505190025) and to discuss other spectrum issues. “Utilities need access to licensed spectrum to ensure mission critical communications reliability using frequency bands that provide favorable propagation for wide area coverage without line of sight issues,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 24-99.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R) added his voice Friday to calls for the FCC to approve an NPRM aimed at allowing corrections officials to jam cellphone signals (see 2509240028). Commissioners vote Tuesday. “We have heard from law enforcement across the state that this is one of the biggest challenges they face each day, and jamming the signal of these contraband cell phones is the most effective solution,” Carr said.
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology has sent letters denying applications for recognition from four labs “controlled by the government of China,” the agency said in a news release Friday. Earlier this month, OET started proceedings to withdraw recognition from seven test labs with China ties. The commission “has now begun proceedings to withdraw recognition or denied applications from 15 China-controlled ‘bad labs,’” the release said. “Foreign adversary governments should not own and control the labs that test the devices the FCC certifies as safe for the U.S. market,” said Chairman Brendan Carr.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a False Claims Act (FCA) case brought by lawyers Mark O’Connor and Sara Leibman, who allege that UScellular fraudulently obtained nearly $113 million in bidding credits in an FCC auction by participating through a “shell company,” Advantage Spectrum. The D.C. Circuit didn’t rule on the merits and said the case could continue.