The FCC addressed several pending petitions for reconsideration concerning the commission's rules for incarcerated people's communications services. In a notice for Monday's Federal Register, the commission granted Hamilton Relay's petition on certain aspects of the 2022 IPCS order. Hamilton sought reconsideration of the requirement that an incarcerated person's video relay service and IP-captioned telephone service registration information be updated within 30 days of the user being released from incarceration or transferred to another facility. It dismissed the United Church of Christ and Public Knowledge's joint petition on the commission's 2021 order (see 2302240041). It also dismissed Securus' petition for clarification regarding site commissions in the 2021 order and dismissed in part and otherwise denied Securus' waiver request for alternative pricing plans.
Oral argument in the Minnesota Telecom Alliance's challenge of the FCC's digital discrimination rules in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (see 2408220015) will take place on Sept. 25, said an order Friday (docket 24-1179). Judges James Loken, Duane Benton and Steven Grasz will hear the case.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, didn’t mention broadband or other telecom issues in her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention Thursday evening. However, she promised global leadership on “space and artificial intelligence.” Harris said she would ensure “that America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st Century.” She also called out her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, over “his explicit intent to jail journalists” and political opponents. Trump has repeatedly called for FCC action against media companies for their "fake" reporting (see 2401170050). Harris also mentioned the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 plan: “We know what a second Trump term would look like. It’s all laid out in Project 2025, written by his closest advisers.” FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is identified as the principal author of the FCC chapter in Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, the book laying out Project 2025’s plan for a second Trump administration. Commissioner Nathan Simington is credited as a contributor. Trump has repeatedly disavowed connection to Project 2025, though he has also publicly embraced Heritage's effort. In a Truth Social post during Harris’ speech he wrote: “LYING AGAIN ABOUT PROJECT 2025, WHICH SHE KNOWS, AND SO DO ALL DEMOCRATS, THAT I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH!”
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, latched on to a new Government Accountability Office report about the Universal Service Administrative Company’s handling of the Universal Service Fund to criticize the program’s spending and repeat his call for Congress to make USF subject to the federal appropriations process (see 2403060090). Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, meanwhile, told us earlier this month that Congress must prioritize a legislative fix for the USF contribution mechanism after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' recent ruling that the current funding factor is unconstitutional (see 2407240043).
Additional conditions on Satellogic's proposed earth observation satellite service constellation (see 2403080002) are acceptable as long as they're not more burdensome than those the FCC has put on similarly situated applicants, the satellite operator said. Satellogic told the FCC Space Bureau this week it has no objection to such conditions as semi-annual reporting to the FCC on near-miss events, and mandatory reporting of loss of control of satellites at altitudes above 350 km. Earlier this month, SpaceX urged conditions on Satellogic akin to what the agency put on SpaceX's second-generation Starlink satellites. SpaceX has made similar requests regarding numerous other pending constellations (see 2301180049).
The FCC Media Bureau extended commenting deadlines for the agency’s NPRM on AI political ad disclosures, but the extension is not as long as NAB and the Motion Picture Association requested (see 2408120034). Comments are now due Sept. 19 and replies Oct. 1; the trade groups wanted them pushed to Oct. 4 for comments and Nov. 4 for replies. “We find that an extension of the comment and reply comment deadlines by 15 days and 22 days, respectively, (rather than the 30 days and 45 days requested by the Joint Filers) is sufficient to allow for the preparation of meaningful comments and reply comments,” a Media Bureau order said Thursday. Although some were concerned that the FCC was aiming an eventual rulemaking on AI political ads to be effective for the 2024 presidential election, the extension appears to make that impossible. Election Day is Nov. 5.
Noting its launch operations are continuing, Dish Wireless asked the FCC to keep confidential information submitted to it as part of the broadband data collection process. In particular, Dish sought confidential treatment for the mobile propagation modeling and mobile link budget information it submitted, and mobile voice and data subscription numbers. Dish “recognizes that the current rules do not allow for confidential treatment of ‘provider-specific mobile deployment data,’” a filing posted Thursday in docket 19-195 said. But “disclosing the entirety of the data that DISH is required to submit in these two proceedings would have the perverse effect of harming a nascent 5G competitor, which would undermine the Commission’s ultimate goal of increasing broadband availability and competition,” Dish said.
Focused on electromagnetic compatibility, the American National Standards Committee C63 urged that the FCC incorporate a new American National Standards Institute standard into its Part 2 and Part 15 rules for test sites for radiated emission testing between 30 MHz and 1 GHz. “After years of site validation (SV) measurement procedures" contained in other standards, ANSC C63 “decided to create a separate standard, specific for SV procedures,” said an undocketed petition posted Thursday at the FCC. ANSC C63 noted it’s the “principal standards organization responsible for developing American National Standards for electromagnetic compatibility measurements and testing procedures.” The FCC and electronics manufacturers who desire to market their products in the U.S. use the standards.
The FCC asked the 8th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court to schedule oral argument on an industry coalition's challenge of the commission's digital discrimination rules (see 2407080012). In a brief (docket 24-1179), the FCC said issues in the Minnesota Telecom Alliance's (MTA) challenge are "complex" and oral argument "may assist the court." However, in its reply brief, MTA and a coalition of industry groups urged the court should decide that the discrimination rules are unlawful and set aside the FCC's digital discrimination order.
Supporters of an A-10 high-power Class A FM station designation told the FCC that spacing and interference issues with the proposal are fixable, though some engineers and broadcast groups remain skeptical. Reply comments responding to broadcaster Commander Communications' petition were due Wednesday in docket 24-183. NAB and Cumulus have said the new class would further degrade the FM noise floor (see 2407230035). “Were the Commission to approve the FM Class A-10 classification, Commander believes that hundreds of FM Class A operators would be able to realize improvements in coverage,” the broadcaster said.