The FCC Wireless Bureau on Wednesday granted five additional licenses in the 900 MHz broadband segment to PDV Spectrum, four in Texas and one in Missouri. The FCC approved an order in 2020 reallocating a 6 MHz swath in the band for broadband, while maintaining 4 MHz for narrowband operations (see 2005130057).
NextNav CEO Mariam Sorond urged the FCC to move forward on the company’s proposal to reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band, enabling what it called a “high-quality, terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing services (see 2404160043). “Since former President George W. Bush first acknowledged the need to build GPS redundancy in 2004, every presidential administration has recognized the problem,” Sorond said Tuesday in Forbes. GPS signals are “easily disrupted by intentional spoofing and jamming, and even by unintentional interference,” she wrote: “These signals weaken as they approach Earth -- a vulnerability we’ve seen exploited on the battlefield -- and threaten civilian industries in Europe and the Middle East.” GPS signals also struggle “indoors and in urban canyons, posing challenges for first responders trying to locate people in emergencies.” GPS is also an economic issue, she said. “A one-day loss of GPS could cost the U.S. economy an estimated $1.6 billion, according to a Brattle Group report.”
The National Sheriffs’ Association and ViaPath, a provider of incarcerated people’s communications services (IPCS), separately filed in support of challenges to the FCC’s July order implementing the Martha Wright-Reed Act of 2022 (see 2501280053) in briefs filed this week at the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The order reduces call rates for people in prisons while establishing interim rate caps for video calls (see 2407180039).
Jones Day’s Yaakov Roth, husband of NTIA nominee Arielle Roth (see 2502040056), also represents Maurine and Matthew Molak in their challenge in the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals of a 2023 FCC declaratory ruling (docket 23-60641) clarifying that Wi-Fi on school buses is an educational purpose eligible for E-rate funding (see 2411040061).
NAB pushed back Tuesday night against claims from Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., that broadcasters are using demands for free concerts to circumvent the FCC’s sponsorship identification rules ban on payola. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Monday he asked the Enforcement Bureau to “examine” Blackburn’s claims (see 2502040062). NAB is “not aware of any specific complaint against any station or stations along” the lines of what Blackburn is describing, a spokesperson told us. “Those complaints are what trigger enforcement investigations. If anything, the most notable aspect of [Blackburn’s] letter is that it confirms the enduring promotional value of local radio, which listeners value greatly. We look forward to working with the Senator should any concrete issues arise.”
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
The FCC is investigating Audacy’s KCBS San Francisco over the station’s broadcasting of locations and identifying details of vehicles involved in an undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in January, according to a Fox News report that quotes FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, acknowledged Wednesday that newly announced NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth may draw panel Democrats’ ire during her confirmation process over potential changes from the Trump administration and Congress to the $42.5 billion NTIA-administered BEAD program. Senate Commerce advanced commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick to the floor 16-12 Wednesday, as expected (see 2502040056), against near-uniform Democratic opposition aimed in part at his positions on BEAD. The panel also cleared a revised version of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (S-315) and three other tech and telecom bills: the Rural Broadband Protection Act (S-98), Insure Cybersecurity Act (S-245) and Kids Off Social Media Act (S-278).
The FCC opened a docket on the news distortion complaint against CBS, and both the FCC and CBS have released the unedited transcript of the 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. Editing of the interview is also the subject of a suit that President Donald Trump brought against the network.
CTIA hopes the Donald Trump administration will continue the spectrum studies launched under the national spectrum strategy, though potentially with tweaks to account for earlier studies, said Doug Brake, CTIA assistant vice president-policy communications, during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday.