The FCC needs to do more to ensure that its broadband map data is complete, accurate and reliable, and federal agencies broadly need to work together better to prevent duplication of their broadband program efforts, according to the Government Accountability Office. In a report Monday, the GAO called the accuracy of FCC broadband map data "uncertain" and said the agency must document or assess whether it does enough to ensure accuracy. It gave the FCC, NTIA, Department of Agriculture and Treasury Department -- which administer the bulk of federal broadband deployment funding -- a mixed report card for their coordination efforts with one another. There's more to be done among those agencies in such areas as defining common outcomes, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and bridging organizational cultures, the report said. They need to define their collaborations more clearly and document a formal process for avoiding duplicate funding, it added. The FCC didn't comment.
Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said Monday she's “not worried” about the possibility that President Donald Trump may fire her amid concerns it could happen if the Senate confirms Republican commission nominee Olivia Trusty. Senate approval of Trusty would give Republicans an outright majority at the FCC. As such, the commission would have a mandated three-member quorum without Gomez and fellow Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, who plans to retire this spring (see 2503180067). The Senate Commerce Committee is set to vote Wednesday on advancing Trusty to the full chamber (see 2504230051).
With a 4-0 vote, FCC commissioners on Monday approved an order and Further NPRM aimed at spurring greater use of the 37 GHz band, which the Biden administration targeted for repurposing (see 2412030057). As expected, the FCC tweaked the item (see 2504250051), led by changes sought by Commissioner Geoffrey Starks.
The Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI) slammed the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials’ request that the FCC launch an NPRM on rules for the 4.9 GHz band (see 2502070020), including increasing the equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) limits to make the band more attractive for 5G. AT&T, which stands to benefit through its partnership with FirstNet, strongly supported the change.
The FCC unanimously approved NPRMs on robocalls, satellite spectrum sharing and updated foreign-ownership rules at its April meeting Monday. The agency also unanimously approved an order on creating a licensing framework for the 37 GHz band (see 2504280032).
Paramount Global has eliminated its diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the face of America First Legal lawsuits against the company and its CBS subsidiary, the conservative administrative law nonprofit said last week. AFL said it has also secured a settlement with Paramount and CBS regarding an AFL client -- a script supervisor for the show SEAL Team -- who alleged discrimination by dint of not being an underrepresented minority. Paramount has committed to no longer setting numerical goals related to race, ethnicity, sex or gender and no longer collecting demographic data of applicants, AFL said. Paramount didn't comment Friday. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has also targeted DEI initiatives at companies the agency regulates (see 2503280038).
The FCC Enforcement Bureau’s Region One office in Maryland sent a warning to a business in Hartford, Connecticut, about pirate radio broadcasts from its property, said an agency notice of illegal pirate radio broadcasting issued Friday. EB agents in Boston found unauthorized radio broadcasts coming from the property owned by 30 Arbor Street LLC on three different days last year, the notice said. The property appears to include house apartments and a distillery called the Hartford Flavor Co., according to an online search.
Members of the Cross-Sector Resiliency Forum briefed aides to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr about the group’s most recent work, according to a filing posted Friday in docket 11-60.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' reported plans to eliminate 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline services specifically catering to LGBTQ+ users -- part of an array of cost-cutting steps -- are "grotesque," FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez wrote Friday on X. The FCC "is committed to mental health support for all -- no matter who you love or how you identify," she said. "That’s why we made it easier to call/text 988. Stripping LGBTQ+ Americans of this lifesaving tool is cruel and will lead to preventable deaths." HHS didn't comment.
The FCC's equipment authorization authority can be used to fight the security vulnerabilities that equipment on the agency's "covered list" can pose, Charter Communications executives told the commission. In a docket 21-232 posting Friday recapping a meeting with FCC Council for National Security Director Adam Chan, Charter advocated that the agency require device manufacturers seeking certification to show that their devices securely authenticate with a network owner or operator before the device can connect. Alternately, they should show that their devices communicate a unique, unchangeable and cryptographically assured device ID number to the network anytime it connects, Charter said. Such a requirement would let connectivity providers identify vulnerabilities in their networks, including the originating devices, and isolate them, it added.