The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau sought comment Friday on a petition by Sorenson Communications and CaptionCall on allowable costs for providing telecommunications relay services (TRS). Comments are due April 14, replies April 28, in dockets 03-123 and 10-51. The redacted petition asks that allowable TRS costs include funds associated with “responding to and defending against FCC enforcement proceedings related to a provider’s compliance with the TRS rules” and "educating members of the U.S. Congress and other policymakers on the TRS program generally and a TRS provider’s operations specifically,” the bureau said. It noted that Sorenson filed a similar petition in 2023.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Thursday night that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is “exactly right” in urging Congress to mandate a pipeline of reallocated spectrum in conjunction with a restoration of the commission's lapsed auction authority. Carr said in a letter to Cruz and other leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees that enacting “legislation that establishes a new pipeline of mid-band spectrum is vital to our economy and national security.” The FCC, Carr said, “will make any and all of the spectrum allocations and license changes necessary to comply” with any new statute.
Senate Homeland Security Investigations Subcommittee ranking member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is pressing the FCC's Enforcement and Media bureaus for information on investigations of broadcasters that commission Chairman Brendan Carr has ordered since taking over Jan. 20. The probes thus far focus on broadcasters that have run content critical of President Donald Trump or otherwise face claims of pro-Democratic Party bias. Carr has, in some cases, said the scrutiny is focused on other matters (see 2502110063).
The FCC’s investigation of iHeartMedia over payola (see 2502240070) was sparked by requests made to Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., by “musicians and band members,” she told FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Friday's episode of her podcast, Unmuted With Marsha. “In Tennessee, we've got a lot of people that play in bands and spend a lot of time on the road,” said Blackburn, who, in part, represents country music center Nashville. She responded to the request by sending a letter to Carr, who, in turn, sent one to iHeart. “A radio station can't secretly exchange free performances from musicians or bands in exchange for better airplay on the radio,” Carr said. “And the evidence we've seen suggests that in fact, that has been happening significantly.” Blackburn said, “To some of the band members for the big-name musicians, expenses is one thing, but payment for the show is another.”
Two FCC facilities are listed among government real estate leases marked for termination by the Department of Government Efficiency, according to the DOGE website. The FCC didn’t respond to requests for comment on the listings, but the leases appear to be Enforcement Bureau field offices in Dallas and Cerritos, California. An internal General Services Administration planning document said those leases would be canceled Sept. 30, according to an Associated Press report. DOGE lists the termination of the Cerritos lease as saving $142,637 a year and the Dallas lease as saving $60,630 a year. The FCC didn’t respond to questions about whether the canceled leases would influence Enforcement Bureau field coverage or involve a reduction in personnel. After then-Chairman Tom Wheeler cut several EB field offices in 2015, FCC Republicans -- including former Chairman Ajit Pai -- voiced their opposition (see 1507160036).
The Senate voted 62-38 at our deadline Friday afternoon to invoke cloture on a House-passed continuing resolution (HR-1968), which would extend current federal funding levels for the FCC, NTIA and other federal agencies through Sept. 30 (see 2503100060). The vote came after many hours of uncertainty about whether enough Democrats would back clearing the procedural hurdle. The chamber appeared likely to pass HR-1868 Friday evening, averting a shutdown, which would otherwise begin for some agencies when an existing CR, passed in December, was set to expire late that night (see 2412230024).
The government defended the FCC in a reply brief in FCC v. Consumers’ Research, the USF case before the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that Consumers' Research (CR) creates a “straw man” to attack. Public interest groups, led by the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, also defended the legality of how the USF contribution factor is calculated. SCOTUS is set to hear oral argument March 26.
The FCC’s “In Re: Delete Delete Delete” proceeding could draw a huge number of response filings and is expected to require numerous subsequent rulemakings to lead to actual changes, said industry officials and academics. “Every single regulated entity will sit on Santa's lap and ask for presents,” said TechFreedom Senior Counsel Jim Dunstan. “It will take months just to sift through all the asks and determine how to proceed.”
Southern Ohio Communication Services (SOCS) asked the FCC for an extra 90 days to complete the removal of Chinese equipment from its network. The carrier has already received two extensions, according to a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-89. The only remaining covered equipment in the network “is one ZTE router, which has been powered down and is awaiting transport to the destruction warehouse,” while other gear awaits disposal, the filing said.
Dish Wireless parent EchoStar is interested in leasing spectrum to smaller carriers and tribes, the Rural Wireless Association told members Thursday. Leases are available “on a first-come, first-serve basis” in the 600 MHz, 700 MHz, citizens broadband radio service, AWS-3, AWS-4 and AWS H-block bands, RWA said. “EchoStar is making its spectrum licenses available for lease pursuant to conditions imposed by the FCC in a granted extension request of its final 5G construction milestones,” the group said.