A Virginia bill would establish restrictions on arrangements between ISPs and owners of multifamily dwelling units (MDU). State Rep. Debra Gardner (D) prefiled the bill, HB-1709, last week, which would bar MDU owners from "accepting payment from a provider of broadband service for granting such provider mere access to the landlord's tenants or giving such tenants mere access to such service." The bill would also bar landlords from requiring tenants to pay for service "unless the landlord itself is the provider of the service." Gardner's measure comes after the FCC adopted rules in 2022 barring revenue sharing and exclusivity agreements between ISPs and MDU owners.
T-Mobile didn’t expect Washington state’s data breach lawsuit Monday, the carrier said in a statement. In a complaint at the state’s King County Superior Court, Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) alleged that T-Mobile knew for years about cybersecurity vulnerabilities that led to a 2021 data breach (see 2501060046). A T-Mobile spokesperson acknowledged, “We have had multiple conversations about this incident from 2021 with the Washington AG's office over the last several years and even reached out in late November to continue discussions." As such, "The office’s decision to file a lawsuit … came as a surprise,” the spokesperson added. “While we disagree with their approach and the filing’s claims, we are open to further dialogue and welcome the opportunity to resolve this issue, as we have already done with the FCC.” T-Mobile “fundamentally transformed” its cybersecurity approach during the last four years, the spokesperson said.
State legislatures returning to session in the coming weeks will likely consider "a torrent" of net neutrality bills in the wake of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals striking down the FCC's net neutrality rules (see 2501020028), Access Partnership's Jacob Hafey wrote Monday. The court decision doesn't impact state-level net neutrality laws, such as in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, he added.
The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition asked the FCC for a stay of a waiver the Wi-Fi Alliance received allowing automated frequency coordination systems in the 6 GHz band to take building entry loss into account for “composite” standard-power and low-power devices that are restricted to operating indoors. The request was filed on Monday and posted Tuesday in docket 23-107. The coalition also asked the FCC to review the order (see 2501060060).
Summit Ridge told the FCC it remains on track to shutter operations of the 3.45 GHz relocation reimbursement clearinghouse by March 1, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 19-348. A March 1 closure assumes “no unexpected delays” and is “based on reasonable timeline assumptions informed” by the Wireless Bureau, the filing said. The FCC sought comment by Dec. 18 on the proposal to close the clearinghouse (see 2412030032), but none was posted in the docket. Summit Ridge said the clearinghouse’s cash balance was $162,924.20 at the end of 2024, which will cover final expenses. “The Clearinghouse does not expect to make additional payments to incumbents,” the filing said.
NTCA urged the FCC to approve Siskiyou Telephone's request for a two-year waiver of agency rules imposing a $200 per-line monthly limit on high-cost universal service support. The California-based provider noted in a November filing it sought the waiver to address the loss in support as customers were disconnected during wildfires in 2020 and 2022. The waiver “will allow adequate time for the lines lost to the fires to be replaced,” it said. “Siskiyou operates in some of the most difficult-to-serve rural (indeed frontier) areas of the nation,” NTCA said in a filing this week in docket 10-90. “Much of Siskiyou’s service area is in mountainous (elevations up to 8,200 feet) and granite-laden terrain, the latter requiring hard rock directional boring and rock saws to install network infrastructure,” NTCA said: In addition, “the company’s service area is vulnerable to the wildfires that have devastated California over the past several years.” WTA also supported the request. The waiver “will allow Siskiyou to continue to provide its valuable services to its remaining customers while the residents who lost their homes rebuild, thus well serving the public interest,” the group said: “Without such relief, Siskiyou may be unable to offer service to residents that lost their homes, thus compounding their suffering.”
The Senate Republican Conference ratified Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas Tuesday as Commerce Committee chairman, as expected (see 2411040049). Cruz said in a statement his top priority remains “pursuing policies that will create jobs and spur economic growth,” including by “expanding commercial access to electromagnetic spectrum.” Cruz is among the congressional GOP leaders eyeing using a coming budget reconciliation package to address spectrum issues, including restoring the FCC’s lapsed auction authority (see 2501070069). “I look forward to continuing to work with” Senate Commerce ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., “and our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to find common ground and deliver results that will make a difference in the daily lives of the American people,” he said. The panel will have 15 Republicans during this Congress, including freshman Sens. John Curtis of Utah, Bernie Moreno of Ohio and Tim Sheehy of Montana (see 2412230014). There will be 13 Democrats, including three new party members (see [Ref:2501030050}).
Meta’s announcement Tuesday that it will scrap fact-checking on Facebook is a “good step in the right direction,” said FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr in a post on X. “I look forward to monitoring these developments and their implementation. The work continues until the censorship cartel is completely dismantled and destroyed.” Carr, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to head the FCC, wrote to Facebook questioning its use of fact-checkers (see 2412160052), and has previously named fact-checkers and social media companies as components of the "censorship cartel," a term that he has frequently used in interviews and social media posts. Other components of the cartel include President Joe Biden’s administration, advertising agencies and European governments, Carr has said. In a Facebook video Tuesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would shift to using crowdsourced fact-checking, similar to X. Carr credited Trump with causing the change at Meta. “President Trump’s resolute and strong support for the free speech rights of everyday Americans is already paying dividends,” he said. During a news conference Tuesday, Trump responded “probably” when asked if Meta’s shift was a response to his threats, which included calling for Zuckerberg to be imprisoned for life. “Meta is a private company that can decide how it manages its platform,” responded FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez in an X post Tuesday. “However, under the First Amendment, government threats to private companies over speech can have a chilling effect and are dangerous.” "As our database of false narratives continues to demonstrate, Meta has perennially been a home for Russian, Chinese, and Iranian disinformation," said Gordon Crovitz, co-CEO of fact-checking service NewsGuard, in an emailed statement. "Now, Meta apparently has decided to open the floodgates completely."Public interest groups condemned Meta’s changes. “Everyone should be concerned when major technology firms and their billionaire owners kowtow to a leader like Trump who is intent on undermining the checks and balances that are fundamental to a healthy democracy,” Free Press Senior Counsel Nora Benavidez said in a news release. Said Common Sense Media CEO James Steyer, “With this announcement, Mark Zuckerberg's playbook is as clear as day: Protect Meta's bottom line and cozy up to political leaders while leaving users to fend for themselves.” Ishan Mehta, Common Cause Media and Democracy program director, said, “Americans deserve to know the truth, and Meta’s move to end its third-party fact checking opens the door to endless political lies and disinformation.” Meta’s recent decision to move away from third-party fact-checking is a stark reminder of the growing challenges posed by misinformation online," NAB said in a blog post Tuesday touting the reliability of broadcast news. "While Big Tech platforms operate without any constraints, local stations are bound by regulations that haven’t kept pace with the marketplace," it added. "Policymakers must act to modernize these rules, leveling the playing field so local stations can continue providing the high-quality journalism communities depend on."
Lawmakers and officials expect that long-standing DOD objections to repurposing the 3.1-3.45 GHz band and other military-controlled frequencies will remain a flashpoint in negotiations during the new Congress as GOP leaders eye using an upcoming budget reconciliation package to move on spectrum legislation. Observers eyed potential friction from Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., if she succeeds in her bid to become Senate Communications Subcommittee chair (see 2412180052) given her well-known disagreement with new Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on DOD spectrum issues.
The planned Department of Government Efficiency should apply “bulldozer treatment” to MVPD regulations, which will ease burdens on providers that are bleeding subscribers, said former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly in a post for the Free State Foundation Monday. “The video marketplace is still stuck with many mandates and obligations created 30 years ago or more,” O’Rielly wrote. “DOGE could provide a great service by giving this sector a good shakeout and squaring any remaining obligations with how American families actually consume video content.” Comparing the modern video market to its past iterations “is like comparing space travel to a donkey ride,” O’Rielly added. “There can be no justification for keeping current burdens when providers can and should escape to new business models in response.” It would be “ridiculous” to try to apply the same rules cable providers operate under to new video businesses, he wrote. “Can anyone imagine policymakers arguing that the space-wasteful and unwatched public access programming must be included on YouTube or Meta’s Reels?” O’Rielly didn’t specify which video regulations DOGE should target, but said it should avoid retransmission consent because it would draw too much pushback. “Thumping old agency requirements that are no longer needed in the modern world is a worthy and sensible task.”