Broadcasters expect a draft order that updates the foreign-sponsored content rules to contain language requiring entities buying political issue ads to certify that they aren’t foreign agents (see 2403210071). However, the final version of the order remains in flux, an FCC official told us.
AT&T needs freedom to address its copper network, including parts that are more than 100 years old, but regulation requires that the network keep operating, Chris Sambar, executive vice president-technology operations and head of network, said Tuesday during an AT&T Policy Forum. Sambar said he plans meetings at the FCC this week when he will discuss the cost for AT&T and other carriers of keeping copper lines operating.
The Senate Commerce Committee is at an impasse over funding the FCC’s affordable connectivity program, ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., told us Tuesday. Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said Democrats haven't found enough willing Republicans and the soonest the committee could even consider a markup is the first week of June.
Mission Broadcasting is withdrawing from its proposed $75 million purchase of WADL Mount Clemens, Michigan, according to documents obtained Wednesday by Communications Daily. The FCC approved the sale in April but with a host of conditions that would essentially prevent Nexstar from operating the station through a local marketing agreement, as had been planned. The FCC order “constitutes a law that prohibits the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the purchase agreement,” Mission said in a letter to WADL owner Adell Broadcasting. The order conditionally granting the sale said that if Mission didn’t accept the conditions, the matter would be designated for hearing. The transaction won’t be consummated, “thus obviating any basis for a hearing,” Mission told the FCC in a rejection of grant filing Wednesday. Broadcast attorneys have told us that they expect that the dissolution of the deal would lead to the FCC not moving forward with the hearing, but it’s not certain how the agency will proceed. Last year, a hearing on the Standard General/Tegna deal was terminated on the deal’s breakup. Attorneys have said that a hearing proceeding could be a threat to the licenses held by Mission and Nexstar. Adell Broadcasting CEO Kevin Adell told us he believes a hearing would have been a “dumb risk” for Mission and Nexstar and said he isn’t bothered by the deal’s dissolution. “It doesn’t matter to Kevin Adell,” he said. Adell said Nexstar still needs to find a home for the CW network in the Detroit market by the end of August, and that he believes his company could reach a deal with Nexstar to carry the network through a local marketing agreement. Adell had previously threatened to pursue legal action against Mission if the deal weren't consummated. He didn't comment Wednesday on whether he was still planning to pursue the matter in court. Nexstar and Mission didn’t immediately comment.
The FCC Space Bureau has again approved satellite plans while imposing some conditions sought by SpaceX. In an order in Monday's Daily Digest, the bureau signed off on the Tomorrow Companies' plans for a quartet of non-geostationary orbit weather satellites (see 2212020001). The approval included conditions akin to what the agency imposed on SpaceX's second-generation constellation. For example, if the cumulative projected lifetime of Tomorrow's failed satellites exceeds 100 years, it can't deploy additional satellites without the commission approving a license modification that updates Tomorrow's orbital debris mitigation plan with ways it will address the failure rate. The agency also conditioned Tomorrow's approval on requiring coordination with NASA, including operator-to-operator coordination of physical operations. The bureau said it was deferring action on the remaining 14 satellites in the company's request. SpaceX has urged the agency to put similar conditions on numerous operators as were imposed on its second-generation constellation, and the agency earlier this month imposed some SpaceX-sought conditions on Planet Labs satellites (see 2405130045).
SpaceX's supplemental coverage from space service (SCS) testing in the 1990-1995 MHz band is causing harmful interference to Omnispace's mobile satellite service (MSS) operations, according to Omnispace. In an FCC docket 23-65 filing posted Monday, Omnispace said co-channel emissions from SpaceX satellites are interfering with its MSS satellite receiver. It said SpaceX is operating outside its authorized parameters. "Enforcement is warranted," Omnispace said. It said medium earth orbit satellite and terrestrial antenna monitoring chronicled the interference, and showed it was due to SpaceX operations and not T-Mobile's terrestrial G-block base stations with downlink operations in the 1990-1995 MHz band. Omnispace said the interference was due to at most a pair of SpaceX test satellites, given the separation of the satellites in orbit. It said SpaceX's planned direct-to-device service at scale would cause aggregate interference hundreds of times greater, making the band unusable by other MSS operators over large swaths of the planet. Omnispace said that while SpaceX is authorized to conduct SCS testing at altitudes of 525-535 km, its observations show SpaceX doing such testing at 350-360 km. It said Space Force data also shows SpaceX operating at lower-than-authorized altitudes, which "cannot be dismissed as a mere oversight or a response to dynamic on orbit conditions." Omnispace has expressed concerns previously to the FCC about likely interference from SpaceX's SCS plans (see 2305190057). In a letter to Omnispace posted Monday in the docket, SpaceX said it was "extremely concerned" about public statements that it has empirical evidence of SpaceX interference. It asked that the evidence be put into the record. SpaceX also requested that Omnispace put into the public record evidence of service disruptions.
AST SpaceMobile's BlueWalker 3 satellite has become the subject of a regulatory letter-writing campaign, with numerous filings in docket 23-65. Monday saw more than 20 posted in the FCC docket complaining about satellites impacting astronomy. Many of the letters singled out BlueWalker 3 as "so bright that it could actually damage sensitive cameras in research telescopes at its peak brightness" and said that masses of such satellites in orbit will limit astronomy. Multiple letters (for example, here) urge that the agency consider brightness in any satellite approval process. None of the letters, purportedly filed by individuals, indicates if an organization is spearheading the letter-writing work, and many contain identical or near-identical wording. AST didn't comment Monday.
The FCC Media Bureau has created two dockets associated with the draft NPRM on new requirements for low-power television stations, said a public notice Monday. Docket 24-147 is for filings on “Political Programming and Online Public File Requirements for Low Power Television Stations” and 24-148 is for “Amendment of the Commission’s Rules to Advance the Low Power Television, TV Translator and Class A Television Service,” the PN said. The draft LPTV NPRM is slated for the June 6 open meeting (see 2405160076).
The FCC Enforcement Bureau told U.S.-based voice service providers that they may stop carrying Alliant Financial's call traffic following a cease and desist letter sent Monday to Alliant regarding an illegal robocall campaign. The bureau told providers in a public notice that Alliant appeared to originate a "substantial volume of unlawful robocalls related to purported debt consolidation loans." Alliant sent "prerecorded messages claiming to be from One Street Financial, Main Street Financial, and Alliant Financial," said a news release, saying about 78 million calls were placed to consumers between Nov. 1 and Feb. 24. The bureau noted that service members, veterans and their families "face an increased risk from campaigns of this nature." EB's move was part of the bureau's "Spring Cleaning" initiative. “There are scammers who try to exploit people working to get out of debt and veterans and military families are at a higher risk for this kind of fraud,” said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. "We are putting these bad actors on notice that they can’t keep targeting people with this junk and taking advantage of their attempts to build a better financial future for themselves."
Viaero Wireless asked the FCC for a six-month extension of the July 27 deadline to remove, replace and dispose Chinese equipment from its network. “As a small, rural operation, we lack the financial resources to complete the project with Congress having provided only 40% of the funds needed to complete the project,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 18-89.