The FCC Public Safety Bureau gave UL Solutions an additional 60 days to complete its initial work as lead administrator in the agency’s voluntary cyber trust mark program (see 2503040062). The extension gives UL until May 3, said an order in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. The request “is limited to only 60 days and will allow UL the additional time needed to ensure the recommendations are thoroughly considered and discussed among stakeholders,” the bureau said. “We find this reasonable given the highly technical and complex issues being considered, the industry coordination involved, and the benefit to the Commission from receiving complete and thorough recommendations.”
The Wireless ISP Association reported Wednesday on a meeting with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr about non-spectrum issues. The commission should “ensure that additional data collection and reporting burdens are not imposed on smaller providers” and “permanently eliminate the requirement that a licensed professional engineer” certify broadband data collection submissions, WISPA said in a filing in 10-90 and other dockets. WISPs urged the FCC not to adopt proposals in a Further NPRM on broadband consumer labels. “Existing requirements are sufficient to allow consumers to compare broadband options,” and proposals in the notice “would impose unnecessary burdens on broadband providers,” it said. The group also said all broadband providers “should have access to utility poles and public rights-of-way [at] neutral and non-discriminatory rates and terms on par with telecommunications and cable services.”
The FCC received additional comments urging the agency to take its time finalizing rules for the Alaska Connect Fund (ACF) and provide flexibility where possible. The comments were posted Wednesday in docket 23-328. WTA agreed with comments "that it would be premature for the Commission to try to design a subsidy program for the Alaska Connect Fund in light of all ... the presently unknown conditions that will affect deployment." The broadband maps that are needed to better understand where support should flow also haven't been finalized, WTA said.
AT&T CEO John Stankey is optimistic that the FCC under new Chairman Brendan Carr will make more spectrum available for full-power, licensed use, though the business leader sounded a note of caution about the round of tariffs that President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday.
Telnyx is pushing back on the FCC's proposed $4.5 million fine for allegedly not doing enough to verify the identity of a supposed robocall scammer (see 2502040065). A source familiar with the issue said CEO David Casem met with agency staffers this week. In a statement emailed to us Wednesday, Casem said the FCC enforcement action "must have snuck past the new FCC leadership, but sunlight is the best disinfectant." The statement continued: "We are optimistic that as more people understand how a Biden-era 'regulation by enforcement' approach managed to sneak through the cracks, the agency will reverse course." In a letter last week to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, Telnyx said it "consistently used industry best practices to deter often sophisticated bad actors who seek to engage in illegal calls" and often went beyond what was required. It said the agency's decision to punish it "for properly and quickly responding to a sophisticated bad actor’s brief, single-instance evasion of Telnyx’s controls" is unprecedented. The notice of apparent liability doesn't jibe with FCC statements that it doesn't expect perfection or that telecom service providers' measures must be 100% effective, the company said. "Enforcement of the rule to now require perfection is the sort of 'unfair surprise'" to which the White House has voiced opposition as a regulatory approach.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
With Congress fighting over whether DOD spectrum will be reallocated for commercial use (see 2502270064), experts agreed Wednesday that putting a value on federal spectrum remains difficult.
Permitting reform has bipartisan support, which bodes well for substantial action soon, speakers said Wednesday at ACA Connects' annual Washington summit. Yet while there's support, "nobody can quite figure out what [reform] looks like,” said Senate Commerce member John Curtis, R-Utah. Besides broadband, other sectors, such as energy, also have permitting woes, he added. Speakers said they believe BEAD, with some rules changes, will move forward. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the agency is launching a review of BEAD rules and dropping its fiber focus (see 2503050067).
The FCC will focus on making GPS and 911 calls more reliable at its March 27 open meeting, Chairman Brendan Carr announced Wednesday. The meeting will be the second with Carr at the helm. Draft meeting items are expected to be posted Thursday.
The satellite industry hopes for a better reception from President Donald Trump's administration than it got under former President Joe Biden concerning satellite broadband as a part of the BEAD program (see 2412130011), Boston Consulting Group’s Mike French said Wednesday. His comments came as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick promised a “rigorous review” of the BEAD program (see 2503050067).