Anterix discussed the broad support for 5/5 MHz broadband deployments in the 900 MHz band (see 2405030053) during a call with an aide to FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington. “Proposed rules were endorsed by multiple parties including numerous electric utilities that detailed a compelling need for this broadband option, by multiple organizations representing a broad range of utilities and other enterprise entities, and by a major broadband equipment vendor,” said a filing Wednesday in docket 24-99. “Support for the Petition included support for voluntary relocation only from the current narrowband segments and continued interference protection for incumbents.”
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr's support of SpaceX raises doubts about whether the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America can expect the commission to treat its petition fairly, the UCCA said Thursday. The group asked the agency to yank SpaceX's licenses in light of allegations that the company allows Russia to use its Starlink satellite network to fight in Ukraine (see 2404240019). Carr last month called the UCCA filing "full of sweeping and unmoored allegations" and meritless. It was "part of a clear and repeating pattern of regulatory harassment that accelerated the moment Elon Musk stood up for free speech," he added. Pointing to Ukrainians in Russia-occupied areas enduring censorship and media control, UCCA said in its new filing that Carr was "culturally insensitive" and there was no proof the group was "some shadowy conspiracy seeking to punish Musk for his stand on free speech." Moreover, UCCA called Carr's statement "highly prejudicial" and asked for an apology. Carr's office didn't comment.
The Universal Service Administrative Co. owes Data Research Corp. (DRC) $9.9 million, plus interest, for broadband services it provided more than 20 years ago to the Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDOE) under the federal E-rate program, DRC's complaint Wednesday alleges (docket 3:24-cv-01211) in U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico in San Juan.
LTD Broadband asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Wednesday to overturn the FCC's denial of its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase (RDOF) I auction long-form application. It filed a partially redacted petition (docket 24-1017). LTD was the largest RDOF winner, receiving an award of roughly $1.3 billion to deploy broadband to 528,088 locations across more than a dozen states (see 2012070039).
A bipartisan bid aimed at attaching $6 billion in stopgap funding for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program and $3.08 billion for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to the FAA reauthorization package appeared likely to fail Thursday amid opposition from Senate leaders (see 2405080047). Amendment co-sponsor Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, conceded in an interview Thursday he and other backers appear to lack the necessary votes to hold up consideration of the FAA package. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and amendment co-sponsor Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., separately confirmed to us that chamber leaders still resisted allowing a floor vote on the proposal because they view it as nongermane to the FAA package.
Challenges remain as companies implement a voluntary cyber-trust mark program based on National Institute of Standards and Technology criteria, speakers said during an FCBA CLE on Thursday. FCC commissioners approved the program 5-0 in March (see 2403180046), but the order has not appeared in the Federal Register and the program's timeline is unclear. The cyber mark label will appear on consumer IoT products with an accompanying QR code. It's comparable to the ENERGY STAR program, which certifies products as energy efficient.
With the record showing non-geostationary orbit fixed satellite service systems can coexist in the 17 GHz band with incumbents, there's no reason to delay allowing NGSO FSS services in the band, according to Amazon's Kuiper. In a meeting with FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez's office, recapped Wednesday in docket 20-330, Kuiper representatives also urged that the FCC implement its NGSO FSS spectrum-sharing framework.
The FCC's recent regulatory proceedings on multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD), "intentionally or not," unfairly skew "what would otherwise be a robustly competitive marketplace toward Internet-based providers," Free State Foundation Senior Fellow Andrew Long wrote Wednesday. He said "an up-to-date, honest understanding of ... the video distribution marketplace in 2024" would have the FCC shelve certain pending rulemakings that only further chill competition. Those include rulemakings about requiring rebates for programming blackouts due to stalled retransmission consent talks and others barring certain conditions in MVPD-programmer contracts. "If the Commission truly wanted to maximize overall consumer welfare, it would focus broadly on eliminating legacy one-sided regulations in order to allow competitive forces in the marketplace to do their job," Long wrote.
T-Mobile notified the FCC it completed its acquisition of Ka’ena, including brands Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile, which the company announced last week (see 2405010035). The notice was posted Wednesday in docket 23-171.
Qualcomm supported proposed FCC rules allowing drone use of the 5030-5091 MHz band during a meeting with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, who circulated the order last month (see 2404080065). “The scaling of UA [unmanned aircraft] in a limited shared airspace will stress the need for self-separation and safety critical messaging between UAs, especially in emergency situations where network connectivity is unavailable, limited, or degraded,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-323: “UA-to-UA communications can meet this need, supporting a much more intensively occupied shared airspace.”