The FCC Wireline Bureau Wednesday approved AirVoice Wireless' revised compliance plan to continue providing Lifeline service, said a notice Wednesday in docket 11-42. AirVoice submitted a modification reflecting "an internal reorganization” and its acquisition out of bankruptcy of TAG Mobile, the bureau said.
CTIA withdrew a 2015 petition seeking reconsideration of two “discrete” aspects of updated Lifeline program rules approved that year (see 1508130048). CTIA cited “the passage of time since the Petition was filed,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 11-42. The organization had asked the FCC to reconsider declarations that Section 222(a) of the Communications Act “imposes a duty of confidentiality upon carriers, other than with respect to Customer Proprietary Network Information” and that Section 201(b) “imposes a duty upon carriers to implement data security measures.”
NCTA told the FCC it agrees with comments that the commission should target the 7.125-8.4 GHz band for wireless broadband (see 2311290040), in response to an NPRM on implementing 2015 and 2019 decisions by the World Radiocommunication Conference. The FCC’s proposal in the NPRM “is based on an NTIA recommendation from 2018 that does not reflect the 2023 National Spectrum Strategy -- and could undermine that strategy by unnecessarily complicating the future of the 7/8 GHz range,” said a filing Wednesday in docket 23-120. “The circumstances … have changed significantly since the Commission issued the NPRM in April 2023 and even more since NTIA made its original recommendation to the Commission in 2018,” NCTA said.
As the FCC looks to streamline satellite licensing rules, it should make sure it doesn’t “inadvertently undermine the careful balance struck” between the upper microwave flexible use service and fixed satellite service in the spectrum frontiers proceeding, CTIA said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 22-411. “If the Commission expands the list of ‘minor’ modifications that can be made by operators without prior approval, it should do so with a measured approach that accounts for the impact of the proposed modifications on the spectrum landscape.” CTIA said it agrees operators “should be able to make certain administrative modifications that do not impact the interference environment, such as modifying antenna identification, without prior authorization from the Commission,” but “other modifications, like adding a point of communication or changing antenna parameters, may result in increased interference and impact the operations of other providers.”
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called Wednesday for Congress to substantially rein in the FCC's autonomy in setting USF spending and creating new programs amid a bicameral working group’s examination of a possible universal service revamp (see 2305110066). “Caught in a dilemma of wanting to further expand USF programs but having already maxed out the level of taxation American consumers can reasonably tolerate, the conversation at the FCC and in Congress has focused on expanding the pool of companies and products subject to” the USF contribution factor, which is effectively a “tax on the working class,” Cruz said in a paper. “This approach is anything but fair to American taxpayers: it would hide the problem of excessive USF taxation rather than fix it and ultimately make tax burdens worse by emboldening further unaccountable spending growth.” Instead, he said Congress should “take charge of defining universal service and deciding where USF funds may go.” Cruz proposes making most USF programs subject to congressional appropriations but believes “it may make sense to keep the High-Cost program within the current” funding framework “given ongoing multiyear commitments to providers.” Congress should eliminate “duplicative” USF spending, including combining the Lifeline program with the currently independent affordable connectivity program, given perceptions that the “federal government has too many broadband programs, and a poor record of coordinating them,” Cruz said. He also proposes curbing the FCC’s expansion of E-rate eligibility, citing concerns about permitting schools and libraries to use program support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services (see 2311090028).
T-Mobile and SpaceX jointly sought tweaks to the supplemental coverage from space (SCS) service order on the FCC’s March 14 agenda. The FCC should “permit terrestrial licensees to attribute SCS operations in making renewal certifications” and “defer consideration of aggregate out-of-band power flux-density limit[s] to a Further Notice to allow a technical record to develop,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-65 recapping calls with aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington: “Replace equipment authorization re-certification requirements with a certification by rule for existing devices” and “clarify that SCS entry criteria apply solely to the provision of SCS in the United States, and permit SCS operators to apply for and receive authority to deploy SCS capabilities internationally independent of a domestic U.S. SCS lease arrangement.” The FCC should also clarify when the 90-day SCS discontinuance period begins, they said.
T-Mobile will light up “over the next few days” part of the 2.5 GHz spectrum it won in the 2022 auction after the FCC said the licenses are being released (see 2402270084). Turning on the 2.5 GHz spectrum followed the carrier's multiyear push and required an act of Congress (see 2312190089). T-Mobile plans to auction 800 MHz licenses committed to Dish Wireless after cash-constrained EchoStar decided not to buy the spectrum (see 2403010041), T-Mobile executives said Tuesday at a financial conference.
House leaders removed the NTIA Reauthorization Act (HR-4510) from floor consideration Tuesday amid other committees’ objections to it, the bill’s sponsors told us Wednesday. Chamber leaders previously scheduled consideration of HR-4510 under suspension of the rules (see 2403010073), along with two other telecom-focused bills. The House voted 339-85 Wednesday to pass H.Res. 1061, which amended vehicle HR-4366 to become the Consolidated Appropriations Act FY24 appropriations minibus package that includes reduced funding for NTIA and other Commerce Department agencies compared with FY 2023 but a slight increase for the DOJ Antitrust Division (see 2403040083).
NAB and backers of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-3413/S-1669) are continuing to push for the bill’s passage, possibly by attaching it to a future omnibus appropriations package. The bill's supporters argue attaching the AM radio legislation to an omnibus appropriations package could help it overcome headwinds that have prevented its legislative approval since early 2023 (see 2401050065). CTA and other opponents of the measure argue it should go through a normal legislative process.
Industry groups are backing calls that would refine the FCC's challenge processes for the national broadband map and broadband serviceable location fabric, they said in reply comments posted Wednesday in docket 19-195 (see 2402200073). Many seek changes that would improve the challenge process for mobile service and increase transparency in how disputes are adjudicated within the commission.