Four major trade associations urged that the U.S. Supreme Court reject arguments that a lower court can review an FCC decision in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act case and isn’t barred from doing so under the Hobbs Act. That view largely supports U.S. government arguments on the important role the act plays (see 2412240022). SCOTUS is scheduled to hear McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson Jan. 21, a case from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
With an eye to a mid-2026 launch of its prototype in-space refueling vehicle, Astroscale is seeking FCC approval for launch and operation. In an FCC Space Bureau application posted Tuesday, Astroscale said the craft is under construction via a cost-share contract from U.S. Space Systems Command. It is planned that the vehicle will conduct two refueling demonstrations with the Space Force in supersynchronous geostationary orbit, beyond the geostationary arc. The vehicle will operate in X-band uplinks and downlinks, Astroscale said.
SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh met with FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington to expedite its review of the company's proposed takeover of Intelsat. In a docket 24-267 filing posted Tuesday, SES said it noted that the transaction has been pending for almost eight months and that it wants to close on Intelsat by June, given the increasingly competitive satellite communications universe. The $3.1 billion deal is expected to get a regulatory green light (see 2404300048).
The FCC’s workforce diversity data collection effort “is not analogous” to SEC diversity rules the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided against earlier this month, the FCC said in a filing in docket 24-60219 Monday. The National Religious Broadcasters, Texas Association of Broadcasters and the American Family Association have argued that the 5th Circuit should apply the same logic from its en banc ruling in Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment v. SEC to their challenge of the FCC’s equal employment opportunity order (see 2412180012). The FCC’s collection of Form 395-B isn’t linked to diversity goals, and agency rules prohibit use of the data in enforcement actions, the FCC said. The SEC’s rules were aimed at furthering “diversity objectives,” the filing said. The FCC also has a broader authority to regulate broadcast media, the filing said. “The FCC has long understood that authority to allow the collection and disclosure of demographic data from broadcasters, and Congress has ratified that view.”
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel hearing oral arguments about the FCC's one-to-one telemarketing consent rule (see 2412180008) didn't debate counsel much about petitioner Insurance Marketing Coalition's First Amendment arguments, Sheppard Mullins' A.J. Dhaliwal and Mehul Madia wrote Monday. As a result, they said it makes it unlikely the rule will be struck down on those grounds. Instead, the judges focused more on whether the rule's implementation violates the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which gives consumers the ability to agree to receive telemarketing calls. Dhaliwal and Madia said a decision isn't likely before Jan. 27, when the one-to-one rule goes into effect. But the panel seemed to indicate it believes the FCC overstepped its authority, they said, noting it's unclear whether the 11th Circuit invalidates the rule.
Verizon and Frontier urged the FCC to move forward on their $20 billion all-cash deal announced in September (see 2409050010). Verizon is buying the smaller provider. “No parties have opposed the Transaction, identified any public interest harms, or otherwise contested whether it will bring myriad benefits to consumers across the country,” the companies said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 24-445. They called on the FCC to reject proposed conditions that the Communications Workers of America, Intrado Life & Safety and the Coalition for IP Network Transition requested (see 2412100021). The proposed conditions are “unfounded and contrary to law,” the filing said. None are “'transaction-specific’ but instead merely consist of the ‘wish lists’ of parties who seek industry-wide reforms that are more appropriately pursued in separate rulemaking proceedings.” The requests “fly in the face” of precedent for both the FCC and U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The companies’ October public interest statement (see 2410160049) “explained how the Transaction will increase the reliability of Frontier’s network, improve the customer experience, and bring enhanced benefits to local communities within the Frontier footprint,” they added: “No commenter disputes these benefits.” The filing sought quick FCC action, citing the FCC’s 2017 approval of CenturyLink's buy of Level 3. The filing cited the comments of Commissioner Brendan Carr, tapped as the next FCC chair. “I am … glad that the standard of review and public interest framework in today’s decision make it clear that this Commission will be adhering to the Communications Act and longstanding FCC precedent as it reviews proposed transactions.” In addition, Carr said transaction approvals shouldn’t “extract extraneous concessions from parties.”
Consolidated Communications' purchase by Searchlight Capital Partners and British Columbia Investment Management is expected to close on Friday, Consolidated said in an SEC filing. The deal received FCC approval earlier this month (see 2412100031). Consolidated said it was the last regulatory approval needed.
A U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit panel will hear oral argument Feb. 11 in Indian Peak Properties' challenge of an FCC order about over-the-air reception devices rule, said an order in court docket 24-1108. Indian Peak is appealing an FCC order denying its petitions for declaratory ruling seeking a federal preemption under the OTARDs rule of a Rancho Palos Verdes, California, decision to revoke, under local ordinances, the company’s conditional use permit for the deployment of rooftop antennas on a local property (see 2405060035).
President Joe Biden signed off Monday on the FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-5009) with language that allocates $3.08 billion in funding for the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (see 2412110067). Congress passed the measure earlier this month (see 2412180033). The NDAA gives the FCC $3.08 billion in Treasury Department borrowing authority through 2033 for rip-and-replace reimbursements. It offsets the rip-and-replace funding by authorizing the FCC to reauction the 197 AWS-3 licenses that Dish and affiliated designated entities returned to the commission last year.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court on Tuesday rejected a petition for review that China Unicom (Americas) brought seeking to overturn the FCC’s 2022 decision revoking the company’s Section 214 authority to operate in the U.S. (see 2201270030). The decision was 2-1 with Judge Daniel Collins writing a majority opinion supported by Judge Kenneth Lee. Judge Carlos Bea dissented. The majority held that the commission “correctly interpreted its authority under the Communications Act” and that the “grant of authority to ‘issue’ certificates to telecommunications carriers must be understood as carrying with it an implied incidental authority to revoke such certificates.” The court reviewed the FCC’s authority under the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondi, which overturned the Chevron doctrine, and found that the revocation was within the FCC’s discretion to act (see 2406280043). “There was no indication in the statutory text or structure that Congress denied the FCC any relevant authority to revoke a carrier’s [Section] 214 certificate,” the majority held. “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away,” Bea wrote in his dissent: “Today, the majority declares that” the FCC “may act as the Lord in canceling telecommunications certificates. … I disagree. Unlike the majority, I find myself constrained by the text of the statute and a regard to separation of powers principles of our Constitution to resolve this case otherwise.” All three judges were Republican appointees -- President George W. Bush appointed Bea and President Donald Trump appointed Lee and Collins.