Representatives from fiber company Arcadian met with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr about the importance of programmatic agreements for building out infrastructure. Arcadian asked in particular about potential agreements with the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service, said a filing posted Friday in docket 17-84. “Programmatic agreements would save time and money on projects by covering large swaths of land in one permit rather than having to pull permits for every small parcel involved in a project,” Arcadian said. “These agreements also have long-term benefits for future maintenance and repair work.”
The FCC should move cautiously in revising rules for pole attachments, representatives of infrastructure builder Extenet said in a meeting with aides to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. Commissioners approved a Further NPRM in 2023 about resolving pole attachment disputes more quickly (see 2312130044). “Extenet encouraged the Commission to focus on enforcing current regulations to promote transparency and communication, rather than repealing … regulations,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 17-84. “Current regulations balance the needs of both utilities and attachers and should be enforced.”
Kyle Zebley, the American Telemedicine Association's senior vice president-public policy, sought Friday to ease concerns of Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and others that Medicare could stop covering most telehealth services on April 1. A December continuing resolution to extend appropriations to the FCC and other federal agencies through March 14 also temporarily prolonged some temporary rules changes, giving Medicare recipients eligibility for telehealth services until March 31 (see 2412230024). Zebley said Friday that “conversations on Capitol Hill confirm that President [Donald] Trump and his team are actively working with Congress to extend vital telehealth flexibilities beyond” March 31.
The FCC deactivated the disaster information reporting system and mandatory disaster response initiative for counties in Kentucky affected by flooding, according to a pair of public notices Thursday. “Communications providers do not need to provide any additional reporting in DIRS in connection with this event,” said the DIRS notice. “This deactivation occurs at the request of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” said the MDRI notice.
The DOJ will no longer defend removal protections for administrative law judges, said Chad Mizelle, its chief of staff, in a release Thursday. The FCC has one administrative law judge, Jane Halprin. “Unelected and constitutionally unaccountable ALJs have exercised immense power for far too long,” Mizelle said. “In accordance with Supreme Court precedent, the Department is restoring constitutional accountability so that Executive Branch officials answer to the President and to the people.” The FCC has said in court filings (see 2304140058) that if its ALJ were declared unconstitutional, its ability to hold hearings wouldn’t be affected because FCC rules allow commissioners to preside over them. Standard General raised arguments that the FCC ALJ is unconstitutional during the hearing proceeding over its blocked purchase of Tegna in 2023.
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous but narrow opinion Friday that reimbursement requests submitted to the E-rate program, administered by the Universal Service Administrative Co., can be considered “claims” under the False Claims Act (FCA). The decision in Wisconsin Bell v. U.S. reaffirmed the ruling of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Elena Kagan, one of three justices appointed by a Democratic president, wrote the opinion.
The outlook is uncertain about whether President Donald Trump will attempt to fire Democratic members of the FCC, as the administration asserts its authority over “so-called independent” agencies (see 2502190073). It’s unclear whether the FCC and its Democratic members, Anna Gomez and Geoffrey Starks, are in Trump’s sights, but no one is taking anything for granted from the current administration, industry experts said. Gomez is emerging as the more outspoken critic of the regime under Chairman Brendan Carr, especially on media items (see 2502200023).
SpaceX stressed the importance of the FCC proceeding with care in selecting a space launch frequency coordinator for the agency's space launch service (see 2501230025). “As a company that launched more than 130 rockets to orbit in 2024 and must regularly coordinate its launch operations with other spectrum users, SpaceX has a strong interest in ensuring that any third-party coordinator improves upon the existing post-licensing launch spectrum coordination processes that launch service providers and other spectrum users have refined over years of experience,” said a filing this week in docket 13-115.
The National Consumers League and four small business owners asked the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals for permission to intervene to seek rehearing of a January decision rejecting part of the FCC’s 2023 robocall and robotext order. Judges agreed then with petitioner Insurance Marketing Coalition that the commission exceeded its authority under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act in issuing its one-to-one consent rule (see 2501240068). The court acted just before the rule was slated to take effect.
C3Spectra, approved by the FCC last month to operate an automated frequency coordination (AFC) system in the 6 GHz band (see 2501150018), asked if it could take building entry loss (BEL) into account for “composite” standard- and low-power devices that are restricted to operating indoors. “Allowing C3Spectra’s AFC system to account for BEL up to 6 dB will enhance indoor coverage and data rates, promoting efficient spectrum use while protecting incumbent services from harmful interference,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 21-352.