Samsung Electronics America refuted objections NCTA raised to the company's request for an FCC waiver for a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see [Ref:2309130041). “The practical implications … would be harmful to the CBRS ecosystem, particularly if used as precedent for future composite radios,” NCTA said in a late November filing that other cable interests joined. NCTA's technical assertions are at odds with the FCC rule “governing the measurement of emissions by composite devices" and "inconsistent with the rule itself, with the Office of Engineering and Technology’s well-settled guidance regarding the proper application of the rule, and with current and longstanding wireless industry measurement practices,” Samsung said in a response posted Friday in docket 23-93. The proposed radio won't have “a practical impact” on CBRS operations “compared to the deployment of two standalone radios, and therefore, Samsung’s radio will not disrupt any CBRS operators’ reasonable reliance interests,” Samsung said. Ericsson, Qualcomm and Verizon joined Samsung on the filing.
The FCC Wireless Bureau Friday agreed to give AEP the additional week it asked for (see 2401040037), until Jan. 12, before it responds to concerns the Government Wireless Technology & Communications Association (GWTCA) raised about the utility’s request for a waiver allowing it to operate 800 MHz low-power temporary repeaters and “talk-around on mobile units” in remote areas outside the range of its existing 800 MHz network. “We agree that a 7-day extension is warranted due to the intervening Christmas and New Year's Day holidays,” the bureau said: “Providing a 7-day extension will allow AEP to provide a meaningful response to GWTCA.”
NTIA may need Capitol Hill's help addressing spectrum authority issues, Michael Marcus, former FCC engineer and adjunct professor at Northeastern University, said in comments to NTIA on a national spectrum strategy. Section 323 of the Communications Act, which addresses interference issues, has never been amended, runs to just 214 words and uses terms that are “woefully anachronistic,” Marcus said. NTIA should request legislation replacing Section 323 with “legislative guidance on how the President and FCC resolve their respective rules.” But Marcus noted that crafting and approving legislation is difficult and it is rarely able to keep pace with a changing industry. One key issue is improving agency confidence in NTIA decisions, he said. NTIA and the FCC need additional resources to do a “more objective and timely analysis of the technical issues in spectrum sharing,” Marcus added.
The FCC should “take immediate action” on two petitions against radio stations airing programming from Russia-sponsored news channel Radio Sputnik, said a letter to FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel from Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich. The petitions were filed in 2022 on behalf of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. Smithwick and Belendiuk broadcast attorney Arthur Belendiuk prepared the filings against the two stations, which broadcast to the Washington, D.C., area. The petitions ask the FCC to hold license hearing proceedings on WZHF (AM) Capitol Heights, Maryland, and a Reston, Virginia, translator that rebroadcasts WZHF's signal (see 2203230054). “The programming being broadcast does not represent the views and interests of the audience the stations have been licensed to serve,” wrote Bergman. “It is Russian propaganda, bought and paid for by a hostile foreign government.” The FCC hasn’t responded to the petitions, but it also hasn’t granted the license renewal applications of other stations owned by WZHF owners Arthur and Yvonne Liu, said their attorney Mark Lipp of Fletcher Heald. Bergman called out the Radio Sputnik broadcasts for characterizing Ukrainians as Nazis and for “antisemitic tropes” connected with the Israel-Hamas conflict. The stations “have stated that Hamas was justified in its attacks, that Israel is guilty of war crimes and that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza,” Bergman wrote. The letter doesn’t cite specific programming, making it difficult for WZHF’s owners to look into or address the allegations, Lipp said. “It certainly doesn’t sound like something the station would air,” Lipp added. “UCCA and its members deserve a definitive answer. The issues raised in these petitions are serious and merit the FCC’s prompt attention and response,” Bergman’s letter said.
Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Quectel pushed back Friday against the House China Committee’s call for DOD and the Treasury Department to blacklist it over ties to the Chinese government, Huawei and ZTE. House China Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Calif., urged Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Thursday to act on new information about Quectel's “multiple affiliations” with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the company’s collaborations with Huawei and ZTE. Those ties should qualify Quectel to appear on DOD’s blacklist of Chinese military-affiliated companies and Treasury’s similar “Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List,” the House China leaders wrote Austin and Yellen. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi asked the FCC last year about the threat Quectel and Chinese gearmaker Fibocom posed to U.S. IoT devices (see 2308080059). “We are disappointed to see continued and false allegations from” House China about Quectel’s “supposed cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party” and the Chinese military, Quectel Wireless Solutions President Norbert Muhrer said Friday. “We are an independent company publicly traded on the Shanghai stock exchange that operates internationally.” The company “maintains the highest industry standards of security and data privacy,” Muhrer said, noting its products are designed only for civil and commercial use cases: “We comply with all U.S. and international export control and sanctions laws. We do not sell to any person or entity in Russia, Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria or Crimea, nor do we sell to military manufacturers anywhere.” Even “if Quectel were placed on the lists,” as House China leaders are asking, “the only impact would be to block U.S. investments in Quectel securities,” Muhrer said. “Quectel would not be barred from selling any of its products, in other words would not be blacklisted.”
As the FCC sees increased dissent votes by Republican minority commissioners, those dissents frequently challenge agency authority. That's becoming a more common line of argument among GOP commissioners across federal regulatory agencies, often based on the U.S. Supreme Court's major questions doctrine, administrative law experts tell us. Republican commissioners and former commissioners say dissent votes are a reflection of the Democratic majority pushing partisan issues. Commissioner Nathan Simington in a statement said he is "disappointed that the Commission is now focused on misguided, partisan items, but I remain hopeful that we can continue making progress on real, non-partisan solutions to long-standing technical issues."
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr announces Arpan Sura, from the Wireless Bureau, as legal adviser (see 2401040043) … Pierson Ferdinand tech-focused law firm launches, with more than 130 partners representing 80-plus practices areas including partners, all from FisherBroyles: Rachel Huffstetler and Keats Quinalty, both intellectual property; Adam Ettinger, chief technology officer; Vincent Bushnell, cyber risk, privacy and data Security; Jed Davis, Charles Geitner and Dan McGuire, cybersecurity and privacy; Maryam Meseha, cybersecurity and data protection; and Tony Onorato, cybersecurity, cyber risk and data breach … Brent Skorup announces he’s left George Mason University's Mercatus Center to become a research fellow at the Cato Institute's Levy Center for Constitutional Studies.
The limited intent of the FCC Space Bureau grant allowing SpaceX to conduct supplemental coverage from space (SCS) operations over the G block (see 2312050029) is gutted by the thousands of SpaceX satellites involved, Dish Network said in a docket 23-135 reconsideration petition posted Wednesday. "At 10 days for each satellite, the authorization would be for the equivalent of centuries," Dish said, adding that the intended limits don't place meaningful boundaries on SpaceX's operations. It urged the grant be deferred or discontinued or limited to a sample of 10 SpaceX satellites. In a separate filing in the docket, Dish and new parent EchoStar (see 2401020003) called Omnispace's interference analysis of the 990-1995 MHz band (see 2310230035) "worthy of study." SpaceX launched its first batch of SCS-dedicated satellites this week (see 2401030032). It didn't comment Thursday on Dish's petition.
Comments are due Feb. 5, replies March 5, concerning the FCC's proposal banning charging early termination fees for cable TV and direct broadcast satellite and mandating prorated refunds for canceled service, said a notice for Friday's Federal Register. The docket is 23-405. The FCC adopted the MVPD fees NPRM 3-2 during its December meeting (see 2312130019).
The FCC Wireline Bureau approved a transfer of control of Tennessee-based cable and fiber connectivity operator CableSouth from parent Hunt Group Holdings to Australia's Macquarie Group, according to a notice in Thursday's Daily Digest. It said that under the deal Hunt and Macquarie will each own 50% of CableSouth, with Macquarie having de facto control. CableSouth does business as SwyftFiber and SwyftConnect.