Telephone and Data Systems and UScellular stock prices rose Friday after T-Mobile Chief Financial Officer Peter Osvaldik said his company was eyeing UScellular. The boards of TDS and UScellular are exploring the future of the carrier and “strategic alternatives," the companies said in August (see 2308070043). TDS was up 5.85% to $20.08 Friday, UScellular 3.26% to $46.51.
FCC commissioners announce staff changes: Sanford Williams moves from special adviser to deputy chief of staff in Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s office; Arpan Sura, from Wireless Bureau, becomes legal adviser to Commissioner Brendan Carr; Milla Anderson, from office of Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-N.H., named policy adviser to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks; and acting staffers in Commissioner Anna Gomez’s office taking permanent spots are Deena Shetler as chief of staff-legal adviser for media and international, Edyael Casaperalt as legal adviser for wireless, public safety and consumer protection, Hayley Steffen as legal adviser for wireline and space, Harsha Mudaliar as policy adviser for media and tech and Anna Holland, as executive assistant.
Longtime First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams is supporting the campaign against a license renewal for Fox station WTXF Philadelphia (see 2310100068). Abrams is known for defending newspapers and broadcasters against the government in high-profile cases such as the New York Times' litigation over the Pentagon Papers. “Broadcasters do have considerable First Amendment rights -- a good deal of my career has been devoted to seeking to establish just that -- but ... repeated distortion of information that is broadcast about a forthcoming election is precisely what a broadcaster may not do and that the Commission may consider in determining whether license renewal is appropriate,” said Abrams in informal comments filed with the FCC. Former FCC Chairman Alfred Sikes and former Weekly Standard editor William Kristol are also part of the campaign, which the Media and Democracy Project and former Fox and Disney executive Preston Padden are spearheading. Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, denounced the effort, and the FCC has received letters supporting WTXF from public officials and organizations, including former Undersecretary of the Army Patrick Murphy, the African-American Chamber of Commerce for Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, and the Democratic chairwoman of the city’s delegation to the state House. Padden Thursday also filed comments calling on the agency to include in its record a recent New York State Supreme Court ruling denying Fox’s motion to dismiss a defamation claim from voting machine company Smartmatic. “The Media and Democracy Project petition to deny the license renewal of WTXF-TV is frivolous, completely without merit and asks the FCC to upend the First Amendment and long-standing FCC precedent,” said Fox. “WTXF-TV / FOX 29 News Philadelphia is one of the finest local news stations in the country, broadcasting over 60 hours of local news and locally produced programming every week, and has tremendous broad political and community support.”
The 5th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court granted the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition's unopposed motion for leave to intervene on the FCC’s behalf in opposing a petition seeking court review of the commission's Oct. 25 declaratory ruling authorizing E-rate funding for Wi-Fi service and equipment on school buses (see 2401200001). U.S. Circuit Judge Leslie Southwick signed the order Wednesday (docket 23-60641). Maurine and Matt Molak are challenging the FCC's ruling because they say it will increase E-rate program “outlays” and raise the federal universal service charge they pay as a line-item on their monthly phone bill. They also contend the ruling gives children and teenagers unsupervised social media access on school buses, and that this runs counter to the mission of David's Legacy Foundation, which advocates ending cyberbullying. The Molaks co-founded the foundation in memory of their son. The coalition argues that the Molaks’ petition, if successful, “would do great harm” to the interests of the coalition and its 300 members by “inhibiting online learning,” it said.
Qualcomm briefed the FCC Wireless Bureau staff about “the capabilities and need” for aircraft-to-everything (A2X) 3rd Generation Partnership Project standardized communications for safety-critical detect-and-avoid operations. In addition, company representatives also discussed the importance of dedicating a 20 MHz channel in the 5030 MHz band to A2X, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 22-232. Transforma projects that the number of small drones with cellular connections for commercial use “will increase from 106,000 in 2022 to 295,000 in 2026, then to 1 million by 2032,” Qualcomm said.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.; NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson; Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez are among those scheduled to speak at NTIA’s spectrum policy symposium on Feb. 1, NTIA said Thursday. Other speakers include DOD Chief Information Officer John Sherman and Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser-cyber and emerging technology. The symposium starts at 9 a.m. at the National Press Club, with livestream availability.
A December FCC order requiring wireless providers to block text messages from a particular number following notification from the commission is effective March 26, said a notice for Friday’s Federal Register. Rules requiring terminating providers to block texts from a particular number are effective 120 days after the effectiveness date (see 2312190032).
A September order mandating a May 1 compliance date for all carriers, regardless of size, for new mandatory disaster response initiative (MDRI) requirements approved by commissioners in 2022 (see 2207060070) is set for publication in Friday’s Federal Register. The FCC released the order Sept. 15 (see 2309180039). It responds to an October petition by CTIA and the Competitive Carriers Association (see 2211010056). The FCC “requires that each facilities-based mobile wireless provider enter into bilateral roaming agreements with all other facilities-based mobile wireless providers from which it may foreseeably request roaming privileges, or that may foreseeably request roaming privileges from it, when the MDRI is active,” the notice said: “The Commission clarified that roaming is foreseeable, without limitation, when two providers’ geographic coverage areas overlap.”
The FCC Wireless Bureau on Thursday reminded 700 MHz guard band licensees and 220 MHz band managers that they must file annual reports on or before March 1. “Licensees must provide information about the manner in which the spectrum in each of their markets is being utilized,” the bureau said: It should “accurately convey the current level of service being offered in each licensed area, including information regarding coverage provided by Licensees’ operations and any spectrum lease agreements.”
The FCC appointed Commissioners Nathan Simington and Anna Gomez to the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service and Joint Board on Jurisdictional Separations, according to an order Thursday in docket 96-45. Both commissioners are members of the Federal-State Joint Conference on Advanced Services. Gomez was appointed chair of the universal service joint board and advanced series joint conference. Commissioner Geoffrey Starks will continue to serve as the chair of the separations board.