An FCC proposed handset unlocking NPRM will likely receive unanimous approval at the commissioners' open meeting Thursday, probably with minimum tweaks, lawyers and others in the proceeding told us. Currently, among the national carriers, only Verizon is subject to broad unlocking requirements, though T-Mobile faces some owing to its Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile acquisition. The notice proposes all mobile providers unlock a consumer’s handset 60 days after it's activated.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- State utility commissioners at the NARUC conference grappled Tuesday with the U.S. Supreme Court reversal of the Chevron doctrine. Loper Bright, “though not framed as a federalist decision," has "modest pro-state implications,” Wilkinson Barker’s Daniel Kahn said during a panel of telecom law experts. Earlier, an NTCA official told the NARUC Telecom Committee that his association plans to seek reconsideration of an FCC order on next-generation 911 if commissioners approve it at their Thursday meeting.
FCC commissioners will vote at their Aug. 7 open meeting on an NPRM that delves more deeply into consumer protections against AI-generated robocalls, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Tuesday. In addition, commissioners will vote on an emergency alert system code for missing and endangered persons and procedural updates to the robocall database. Commissioners will also vote on an adjudicatory matter from the Media Bureau and an Enforcement Bureau item.
The FCC deactivated its disaster information reporting system (DIRS) for Hurricane Beryl at Texas' request, the agency announced Sunday. Communications providers will no longer need to report the status of cellular networks in DIRS in connection with this event. The FCC said it will continue monitoring the status of communications services and work with providers and government partners to support remaining restoration efforts in the area. The Mandatory Disaster Response Initiative remains in effect for the areas of Texas that Hurricane Beryl struck when it reached land July 8.
The FCC and Department of Education will hold a webinar July 23 to provide information on the three-year, $200 million cybersecurity pilot program for schools and libraries that commissioners approved 3-2 in June (see 2406060043). The webinar starts at 2 p.m. EDT and also offers information on “other federal cybersecurity resources available to schools and libraries,” a Monday notice from the Wireline Bureau said.
The 12-month compliance timeline in the FCC's draft next-generation 911 order might be insufficient for smaller providers, according to the Competitive Carriers Association. The order is part of the FCC's July agenda (see 2406260058). In a docket 18-64 filing Monday recapping meetings with the offices of Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr, CCA said non-nationwide commercial mobile radio service providers should have at least 18 months for each phase of the NG911 transition following a request from a 911 authority, rather than 12 months. It urged the FCC to clarify that it will consider waiver requests from non-nationwide CMRS providers in completing connections. In addition, it asked the FCC to clarify that when a provider falls into two categories for the purposes of compliance time frames, the longer compliance time frame applies.
Tango Networks, a wireless provider with operations in the U.S. and other nations, urged that the FCC take an aggressive approach on handset unlocking requirements proposed in an NPRM. The NPRM is set for a vote on Thursday (see 2406270068). Applying proposed changes to existing contracts “would provide immediate benefit" for consumers "with little impact to the service providers holding those contracts,” Tango said in a filing last week in docket 24-186. Service providers in other countries and Verizon Wireless “have proven that long term device locking is not required to prevent fraud.” Tango also said increasing the number of unlocked devices on the secondary market “would enable businesses to provide mobile service to a greater number of their employees.” Tango noted it also has operations in other countries in North America and Europe.
The Armstrong Group agreed to pay $6.5 million for violating the FCC's rules on the USF high-cost program, DOJ announced Friday. The company admitted to "submitting improper costs in order to inflate the subsidies it received," a news release said. An investigation found that five incumbent local exchange carriers the Armstrong Group owns failed to comply with FCC rules between 2008 and 2023. A whistleblower will receive about $1.2 million "as his share of the recovery," DOJ said. “When providers like the Armstrong Group fail to follow federal law and FCC regulations, they jeopardize not only critical government programs but also consumers’ ability to access a modern lifeline," Eric Olshan, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, said.
Former President Donald Trump’s selection of Senate Commerce Committee member Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, as his running mate puts a backer of additional funding for the FCC’s lapsed affordable connectivity program on the presidential ticket of a party that has many members who criticized the initiative. Vance is lead Senate GOP co-sponsor of the ACP Extension Act (HR-6929/S-3565) and subsequent Secure and Affordable Broadband Extension Act (S-4317). Both propose giving the affordability program billions of dollars in stopgap funding for FY 2024 (see 2401100056). Vance also helped lead an unsuccessful bid to include $6 billion in ACP funding in May as part of the 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act (see 2405090052). Vance, a freshman senator, opposed former-FCC nominee Gigi Sohn and Commissioner Anna Gomez during their confirmation processes last year (see 2307120073).
FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington, reacting to Saturday's assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, said Americans should “renounce the abuse of the vast reach of telecommunications to falsely describe political adversaries as threats to democracy, fascists, and by other false and hate-filled terms.” In a two-page statement Monday, Simington wrote that the FCC “has few or no powers to compel or limit political speech.” As such, he was making the request “not as an officer of the US government, but as a concerned citizen.” However, his remarks used the same letterhead as FCC news releases. They were released in the manner of official FCC commissioner statements. “It is no more than the truth to say that President Trump’s survival also saved the election’s legitimacy by preserving the political choices of tens of millions of Americans,” Simington wrote. "The image of President Trump, blood streaming down his face, on his feet and shaking his fist in regal defiance, became an instant classic of American history." FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr also reacted, posting on X that it's “past time for politicians that know better to stop fanning the false flames of fear.” Carr said he was “Praying for President Trump tonight and for any innocent loss of life in Butler, Pennsylvania.” The FCC's Democratic commissioners didn't release statements on the shooting.