General radio operators have asked the FCC to change its rules to allow internet linking of general mobile radio service repeaters. The FCC imposed a prohibition in 2017 but rarely enforced the rule until last year, said a petition posted Wednesday in docket 15-178. “This enforcement has significantly impacted the GMRS community, disrupting emergency communication networks, community nets, and disaster response efforts that had been successfully operating for nearly a decade,” it said.
The FCC provided guidance for intelligent transportation system licensees seeking to move from dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) operations to cellular-vehicle-to-everything-based technology in the upper 30 MHz of the 5.9 GHz band. New C-V2X-based rules went into effect Tuesday, said a notice that day in docket 19-138. The FCC fundamentally changed the rules for the band in October 2020, reallocating the 5.9 GHz band to sharing between Wi-Fi and C-V2X, with no set-aside for DSRC, the historical allocation for the spectrum. The Wireless and Public Safety bureaus said they have reinstated roadside unit (RSU) licenses that were terminated in 2022 due to a failure to notify the commission they had ceased intelligent transportation system (ITS) operations in the lower 45 MHz of the band. Licensees now have an additional 90 days to provide the required certification, the notice said. All Part 90 ITS licensees currently authorized to operate DSRC-based technology in the upper 30-MHz portion are eligible to modify their RSUs for C-V2X deployment in compliance with the new rules, the notice said: “Similarly, any entities that aspire to operate ITS systems may apply for ITS licenses … but only for the purpose of registering and operating C-V2X-based RSUs in their proposed geographic area of operation.”
The Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation filed a paper Wednesday at the FCC on positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) options other than NextNav’s proposal to use 900 MHz spectrum as an alternative to GPS (see 2404160043). The U.S. “must develop alternatives to GPS and strengthen its PNT capabilities,” the paper says. But “granting the NextNav petition is costly in terms of spectrum, not necessary to achieve this goal and likely would not even deliver a real-world improvement in the country’s PNT capabilities.” The paper, filed in docket 24-240, notes China and Russia have terrestrial PNT systems “that make them much more resilient to interference with their satellite navigation systems.” Other vendors and technologies -- including Locata, PhasorLab, the Broadcast Positioning System and enhanced long-range navigation (eLoran) -- also offer alternatives to GPS, the foundation said. “These companies have not asked the FCC for additional spectrum to implement their solutions.”
Former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Wednesday that he expects the White House to focus on getting Americans broadband connections and that as chair, he would have handled the rural digital opportunity fund (RDOF) differently if he had known the BEAD program would follow it.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., and Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., filed the No Propaganda Act (HR-1211/S-519) Tuesday night to block federal CPB funding over claims that NPR, one of the public broadcasting entities it supports, creates “chronically biased content.” The measure would rescind “unobligated balances” of CPB’s advance funding for fiscal years 2025, 2026 and 2027. Kennedy and Perry bowed the No Propaganda Act hours after Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., filed the Defund Government Sponsored Propaganda Act (HR-1216/S-518) to end federal funding for public broadcasting and claw back CPB’s advance funding for FY25, FY26 and FY27 (see 2502110072). House Appropriations Committee Republicans attempted to end CPB's advance funding in 2023 and 2024 (see 2407100060). The House Oversight Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) Subcommittee is eyeing a March hearing targeting claims of public broadcasting bias (see 2502030064). “It might have made sense many, many years ago for the federal government to subsidize public broadcasting,” but Congress should no longer “be picking winners and losers in the news media,” said Kennedy, a member of the Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee, on the Senate floor. He cited claims of NPR's pro-Democratic Party bias that began to draw congressional Republicans’ scrutiny last year (see 2405080064). “If you are a news outlet, and you want to publish this kind of stuff, that is your right as an American,” but “I'm not for taking $500 million every single year and giving it to these stations, to the exclusion of all others, to do it,” he said. Kennedy also noted that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr last month ordered the Enforcement and Media bureaus to investigate PBS and NPR member stations over possible underwriting violations (see 2501300065). NPR didn’t comment.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) on Wednesday slammed the latest executive order from President Donald Trump's administration aimed at cutting the federal workforce. Trump signed the EO Tuesday that said he would require the heads of federal agencies to make "large-scale [staff] reductions.” The continuing assault has sparked anxiety at the FCC and other agencies critical to the communications industry (see 2502070047). Appearing with Elon Musk, Trump told reporters that Musk's Department of Government Efficiency had uncovered billions of dollars in fraud, but he didn’t offer details.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions. New lawsuits since the last update are marked with an *.
A notice of inquiry about use of the upper C band for 5G may prove controversial given the implications for radio altimeters, industry experts said. The NOI proposes a study of 3.98-4.2 GHz spectrum, just above the spectrum sold in the record-breaking C-band auction, which ended in early 2021 (see 2102180041). FCC Chairman Brendan Carr initiated the NOI last week for a vote at the Feb. 27 open meeting. A radio altimeter is a device that measures the distance between an aircraft and the ground.
House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin of Maryland, other panel Democrats and Free Press co-CEO Craig Aaron used a Wednesday hearing aimed at reviewing instances of claimed Biden administration censorship to lambaste Republican FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for ordering a string of investigations against U.S. broadcasters. The probes, launched since Carr took office Jan. 20, thus far focus on broadcasters that have aired content critical of President Donald Trump or otherwise face claims of pro-Democratic Party bias, though Carr has, in some cases, framed the scrutiny as focused on other matters (see 2502110063). House Judiciary Democrats also sharply criticized X owner Elon Musk for actions on the social media platform that they view as censorship of anti-Trump content.
Northrop Grumman's Space Logistics is planning to dock its Mission Extension Vehicle 1 with an Optus D3 satellite for in-orbit mission extension services. In an FCC Space Bureau application Monday, SL said that after seven months of service with Optus, the MEV-1 would undock and then move to its next client. SL said the spacecraft has been operating with the Intelsat 901 satellite, doing mission extension services for it, and the company's contract with Intelsat ends March 30.