Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz of Texas and two other panel Republicans are claiming that the Commerce Department’s Project Local Estimates of Internet Adoption is “manipulating census data to suppress the number of American households connected to high-speed internet via wireless and satellite technologies,” an omission that appears “politically motivated to disenfranchise alternative satellite broadband providers.” The Project LEIA website “claims its estimates offer reliable data on internet adoption for all U.S. counties,” but “it fails to mention the exclusion of millions of American households who rely on wireless and satellite technologies for internet access,” Cruz and the other GOP senators said in a Thursday letter to NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson and Census Bureau Director Robert Santos. Cruz and the other senators, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, said the Project LEIA omissions are aimed at hurting SpaceX’s Starlink. They compare the act to an earlier FCC decision to bar Starlink from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program (see 2312140048) to punish CEO Elon Musk. “This omission results in systemic undercounting and data bias. When the data are wrong, policy outcomes will inevitably suffer.” It “underscores the current administration’s prioritization of politics over sound policy -- an approach that has sabotaged” the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program “and perpetuates misinformation about broadband in America,” the senators said in the letter, released Friday. They want Davidson and Santos to respond by Nov. 14. NTIA has “received the letter and will respond through the proper channels," a spokesperson emailed. The Census Bureau didn’t comment.
SpaceX's petition seeking a revision of U.S. spectrum-sharing methodology between geostationary orbit (GSO) and non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service downlinks (see 2408120018) is facing pushback from some satellite operators. It also gained support from a fellow mega constellation operator. Fights over equivalent power flux density (EPFD) limits arose during ITU's 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference and were expected to continue before the FCC and ITU up into the forthcoming WRC-27 (see 2402200005).
A panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court on Monday gave little indication how it would rule as its three judges heard arguments on overturning the agency's Oct. 25 declaratory ruling authorizing E-rate funding for Wi-Fi on school buses (see 2312200040). Maurine and Matthew Molak of Texas brought the case, arguing that the ruling went beyond the commission’s authority to act under the Communications Act.
GPS spoofing and jamming, already at record levels, will only get worse, experts said Monday at a Hudson Institute event in Washington. Numerous available routes could ameliorate the problem, but there has been a lack of political and policy will, speakers said. FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington called for the agency to use its statutory authority to tackle spoofing and jamming.
U.S. Supreme Court justices Monday appeared divided on telecom industry arguments that reimbursement requests submitted to the Universal Service Administrative Co.-administered E-rate program can’t be considered “claims” under the False Claims Act (FCA). Justices peppered lawyers for both sides with questions during oral argument as they heard Wisconsin Bell v. U.S., a case from the 7th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court (see 2410070047).
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is calling for an FCC investigation into whether NBC violated the agency’s equal time rules by broadcasting an appearance by Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ Saturday Night Live over the weekend. However, the agency, communications attorneys and academics say the network appears to have complied when it provided free air time to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during major sports broadcasts Sunday. “I think the credibility and integrity of the FCC is on the line here,” Carr said Sunday in an interview on X. But a spokesperson for Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a post on X Monday said, “Our rules do not require that a network seek out opposing campaigns to offer the time,” adding, “the rival candidates have to request it. The requirements outlined under the FCC's ‘equal time’ rules here have been satisfied.”
The Tuesday congressional elections could lead to significant turnover on the Senate Commerce Committee even beyond ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, with four other panel members facing tough or potentially competitive reelection fights. The outcome of Cruz’s reelection bid against Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, has the biggest potential to alter the Senate Commerce dynamic because Cruz is poised to become panel chairman if he's reelected and Republicans gain a majority in the upper chamber (see 2411040049). Late polls suggested both of these results are more likely than not. It's less likely there will be substantial turnover on the Senate Judiciary, House Commerce and House Judiciary committees, as only a handful of those panels’ members face competitive contests.
The outcome of Tuesday's Senate elections could scramble Senate Commerce Committee Republicans’ leadership structure given the competitive contest between ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Colin Allred, his Democratic challenger. Four other panel members also face tough or competitive reelection fights (see 2411040051). Democratic leaders on the House and Senate Commerce committees indicated they intend to stay in those roles in the upcoming 119th Congress regardless of the election’s outcome.
The EPA, not the FCC, is the proper federal agency to coordinate or conduct space environmental protection, National Space Society space regulation and oversight policy lead Grant Henriksen blogged last week. Noting a call by space academic researchers for the FCC to conduct environmental reviews for large constellations of satellites, Henriksen said the commission lacks the expertise for address space activities' environmental impacts and should abstain from regulating non-communications-related undertakings. FCC steps toward environmental regulation would be open to legal attack in a post-Chevron world, creating greater regulatory uncertainty when the U.S. commercial space sector "already faces numerous challenges on that front." He said the EPA can address risks to the atmosphere from increased rocket launches and reentries.
The FCC Precision Ag Task Force will meet in a virtual session Dec. 5 at 10 a.m. EST, said a notice in Friday's Federal Register. It will vote on its final report and recommendations to the commission.