Clarifying the FCC's "all-in" video pricing order to spell what does or doesn't count as a franchise fee isn't necessary, as the order itself is clear, NCTA said in a docket 23-203 filing posted Tuesday. If the FCC wants clarity, it should ensure that its statement in the order about public, educational and governmental access support fees remains in line with agency precedent on the item, NCTA said. Any clarification could reaffirm that all charges and payments for PEG facilities are excluded from the all-in pricing rule "whether they are characterized as franchise fees or not," it said. NCTA was responding to a local franchise authorities petition seeking the clarification (see 2411140004).
The FCC should hold a hearing on Fox WTXF Philadelphia’s license to distinguish it from President-elect Donald Trump's recent attacks on broadcast licenses and establish a “bright-line test” on when such sessions are required, said the Media and Democracy Project in informal comments posted Tuesday in docket 23-293. The WTXF case, which stems from a court finding against Fox, is “easily distinguishable from routine complaints by politicians about the political slant of a particular channel or network's political slant or classic journalistic prerogatives,” said the MAD filing. Commissioner Brendan Carr's recent comments suggesting that as chair he will take up complaints against ABC and CBS over their content “illustrate the importance of this commission adopting a more clear bright line test that invokes the character provision of the Communications Act only after there has been a judicial finding,” MAD said. Although MAD acknowledged that lawmakers have asked Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to refrain from addressing controversial matters until the new administration is in office (see 2411080048), the group argued that holding a hearing wouldn’t violate that request. “For the FCC to hold a hearing regarding a broadcast license applicant recently found by a court of law to have knowingly and repeatedly presented false news is certainly not controversial,” MAD said. However, multiple lawmakers have asked that the FCC deny MAD’s petition (see 2402260064) and Commissioner Nathan Simington has characterized the hold on WTXF’s license as an “intentional and unwarranted political delay," MAD said (see 2409130062). “Failing to hold a hearing under these circumstances would be tantamount to declaring the character requirement of the Act no longer applicable.” Carr and Fox didn’t comment.
The FCC will provide information on how to challenge the mobile broadband coverage data in the national broadband map, the Wireless Bureau said Tuesday. On Dec. 3, officials will offer a session on “Mobile challenge thresholds & other things to keep in mind when conducting a test.” The focus of a Dec. 10 session is “Collecting and submitting bulk challenge data in accordance with Broadband Data Collection (BDC) Data Specifications.” Both sessions run 3-4:30 p.m. EST, the bureau said. “During each session, FCC staff will provide a brief overview of the topic, followed by a Q&A in which staff will be available to offer hands-on support.”
Sirius XM filed a complaint at the FCC against China’s Shenzhen Tongwei Electronics' wideband signal boosters and California’s MiCOM Labs, which certified the devices. The boosters can operate in the 2300 MHz band, licensed for the terrestrial wireless communications service, in violation of FCC rules, the complaint said. “Testing has shown that these devices produce out-of-band emissions … that cause harmful interference” to satellite digital audio radio service and aeronautical mobile telemetry, the complaint said. The booster models are sold on Amazon under the trade names Beyle, Tonve or Becky, the complaint said. SiriusXM said AT&T, which uses the WCS band, supports the complaint.
The FCC’s controversial 4.9 GHz order, allowing FirstNet to use unutilized parts of the band, takes effect Dec. 20, said a notice for Wednesday’s Federal Register. Commissioners approved the order 5-0 in October (see 2410220027). Opponents are threatening litigation (see 2411130027).
EchoStar urged the FCC to move forward on handset unlocking rules for prepaid and postpaid devices. As the FCC recognized in its unlocking NPRM, “such rules are a means to improve consumer choice and flexibility and to enhance competition across the mobile wireless marketplace," the company said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 24-186: “EchoStar agrees, as do the majority of commenting parties: the benefits of a standard unlocking policy are widely cited in the record. Indeed, industry-wide unlocking requirements have support from parties ranging from the public interest community to Verizon and Comcast.” Commissioners approved an NPRM 5-0 in July (see 2407180037).
Comments are due Dec. 20 about a proposed requirement that covered text providers, including wireless providers, support georouting text messages made to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to the appropriate local crisis center, said a notice for Wednesday's Federal Register. Replies are due Jan. 9. Comments are to be filed in docket 18-336. The 988 call georouting order approved unanimously at the FCC's October meeting included an NPRM about text georouting (see 2410170026).
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Securus' motion to stay the FCC’s incarcerated people's communications services order, the court ruled Monday. It didn't detail why it ruled against Securus. “Having carefully reviewed the specific arguments Securus offers in favor of a stay, the motion is hereby denied, without prejudice to later revisitation of relevant points in briefing and during merits review,” the court said. Securus had argued that the FCC’s order violates the 2022 Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act and would “irreparably harm Securus if allowed to take effect." The order’s effective date was Tuesday. The FCC order “will increase the likelihood that correctional agencies will reduce communications options in the absence of necessary safety and security services” and “materially inhibit competition in the marketplace.”
The FCC should open an investigation into a Chinese hacking campaign that allegedly targeted communications from Vice President-elect JD Vance and the presidential campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Tuesday. Blumenthal was referring to a Chinese hacking known as the Salt Typhoon attack. In addition to the investigation, Blumenthal urged the FCC to begin a rulemaking process. Chinese hackers allegedly breached several American phone companies in an attempt to spy on American political targets, said Blumenthal during a hearing before the Senate Privacy Subcommittee, which he chairs. From a legal standpoint, the FCC can “set and enforce security standards,” he said. The investigation should be supported with “bipartisan unity,” and it can be carried over from the Biden administration to the Trump FCC, he added. Telecommunications Industry Association CEO David Stehlin testified that high-profile attacks like Salt Typhoon indicate a “need to address vulnerabilities within our [information and communications technology] ICT supply chain and mitigate them wherever possible.” He noted TIA’s 2022 development of SCS 9001, “the ICT industry’s first Supply Chain Security standard.” Stehlin called for a public-private “partnership that builds in the elements needed to verify trust and continually improve.” Blumenthal addressed issues related to TikTok, saying President-elect Donald Trump can’t ignore a new law setting a Jan. 19 deadline for Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest from the social media app (see 2411140057). Trump can extend the deadline once but can’t ignore the law, Blumenthal said: “If he wants to change the law, he can try,” but Congress voted overwhelmingly in favor of it.
If the incoming presidential administration enacts the broadband regulatory suggestions in Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, it will bring "a new era of wild West-style deregulation for broadband," Penn State doctoral student Abby Simmerman blogged Tuesday at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Project 2025's urges deregulation and public spending cuts. Simmerman said deregulation could benefit satellite broadband operators, such as SpaceX and Amazon's Kuiper and incumbent internet service providers, easing the path to potential acquisitions. Project 2025 also criticizes inefficiency in U.S. broadband programs, arguing that a lack of a national strategy has created redundancies and waste, Simmerman wrote. The comprehensive program review it recommends would attempt to eliminate programs deemed duplicative. The USF undoubtedly would see a reduction in spending, given how Project 2025 urges “right-sizing the federal government’s existing broadband initiatives," she added. The next FCC is also unlikely to initiate affordability programs, Simmerman predicted.