Globalstar received a partial approval for its plan to replenish its first-generation HIBLEO-4 non-geostationary orbit satellite system (see 2308070005). The FCC Space Bureau ordered Friday an extension of Globalstar's license to permit continued operations of the satellites and authorized deployment of up to 17 replacement satellites. It said deployment of the remaining nine in its application was pending agency approval of an updated orbital debris motivation plan. The satellite refresh "is expected to result in improved performance and coverage for Globalstar’s mobile satellite services, including Direct to Device satellite connections, around the world," Globalstar CEO Paul Jacobs said Monday. "Achieving this milestone is imperative to Globalstar to enable us to complete our mission of providing critical mobile satellite connectivity and lifesaving technology worldwide."
The FCC Media Bureau rejected eight Texas low-power FM applications that were filed on behalf of separate outreach organizations but appeared connected to a single church, said a letter in Monday's Daily Digest. The LPFM window rules require applicants to certify that they don’t have other attributable broadcast interests, including LPFM applications. “The many commonalities among the Applications -- in particular, the common use of broadcast facilities and headquarters, contact information, and mission statements -- suggest a significant degree of organizational interconnectedness,” Audio Division Chief Albert Shuldiner wrote in the letter dismissing the applications. The applications were on behalf of individual outreach organizations for the Christian Life Church in Lubbock, Texas. LPFM entity REC Networks filed informal objections noting connections between the groups. The outreach groups argued their applications were allowed under LPFM rules that prevent local chapters of large organizations from being considered attributable to the larger group if the local chapters are “separately incorporated” with “a distinct local presence and mission.” The outreach groups aren’t separately incorporated and their use of shared addresses and facilities shows they don’t have a distinct local presence, the Media Bureau said. They also failed to show they had available broadcast sites, the letter said.
Ericsson said Friday it has an agreement to sell iconectiv to Koch Equity Development for $1 billion. As part of its Telcordia acquisition in 2012, Ericsson picked up the U.S. network planning and management services subsidiary. Private equity firm Francisco Partners co-owns the subsidiary. “The Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, with completion targeted during the first half of calendar 2025,” Ericsson said. Iconectiv, which is the local number portability administrator (LNPA), and Koch told the FCC iconectiv will be able to continue serving in that role. “The proposed ownership structure will ensure iconectiv’s neutrality and impartiality post-closing of the transaction,” a filing posted Monday in docket 07-149 said.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks joined Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas, last week to discuss the importance of student connectivity at Lady Bird Johnson Middle School in Irving, Texas. “Students’ education simply doesn’t stop when they exit the school building,” Starks said Monday: “That’s why a reliable internet connection at both school and at home is vital to reaching their potential.” Starks voted last month to approve an order and Further NPRM that lets schools and libraries use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services (see 2407180024). Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington dissented. “Closing the digital divide is not a burden but an opportunity to invest in students and families, give them the resources to be innovative and empower them to solve issues that our communities face,” Veasey said.
Shortwave Modernization Coalition (SMC) representatives told the FCC the group met with other federal agencies about the group’s proposal that the commission launch a rulemaking to amend eligibility and technical rules for industrial/business pool licensees to authorize licensed use of frequencies above 2 MHz and below 25 MHz for fixed, long-distance, non-voice communications (see 2305010053). The proposal has faced pushback, particularly from amateur radio operators (see 2308180033). SMC met with spectrum officials at NTIA “and based on those discussions reached out to several federal spectrum users and were successful in having meetings with the spectrum staff” at NASA, NOAA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Coast Guard, a filing posted Monday in RM-11953 said. SMC “explained that the shortwave band has been used for nearly nine years through multiple experimental licenses granted to several parties, and that multi-year experience mirrors the use that would be authorized by the pending proposal.”
The FCC’s voluntary cyber-trust mark program should focus on protecting the security and privacy of IoT devices, the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) said in a comment posted Monday in docket 23-239. An increasing number of IoT and consumer devices contain sensors “that measure sound, visuals, movement, temperature, pressure, and other information involving users, bystanders, and the surrounding environment,” the forum said. “As sensors on devices collect more data about users and their environments, those who operate those devices are able to create detailed profiles that may include intimate personal information,” the FPF said: This aggregation of personal data “may allow those collecting it to learn or infer sensitive information about people, or to track people’s behaviors across different spaces.” Comments were due Monday on a Further NPRM on the program, which FCC commissioners approved in March (see 2403180046).
The Utilities Technology Council asked the FCC not to adopt timelines for larger pole orders in its pending proceeding on pole replacement and attachment applications. Doing so "will not promote broadband deployment as a practical matter and will likely delay deployment," UTC said in an ex parte filing Monday in docket 17-84. It recommended to Wireline Bureau staff (see 2408120038) that the FCC give utilities the "flexibility" to process larger orders "in a manner that makes efficient use of the limited resources that are available." Utilities can't "solve the shortage of qualified workers alone," the group said, and "different utilities may require different contractor qualifications." The group backed requiring attachers to give pole owners at least 60 days advance notice of any major deployments to ensure "more efficient processing of larger orders."
Jared Carlson is leaving his role as a deputy chief of the FCC Office of International Affairs to work for the National Security Council, replacing Matthew Pearl as director-emerging technologies, industry officials said. Pearl recently left the White House post (see 2408140044). Carlson is an industry veteran who spent more than 15 years at Ericsson and previously worked at Sprint Nextel. He joined the FCC last year. The FCC declined comment and the NSC didn’t comment Monday.
There's "an intentional and coordinated effort to silence" some political speech by "many in power -- whether in government or media," FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr wrote in a post on X on Sunday. He said these people "view free speech as a threat" and label views they don't like as "misinformation." He wrote: “The censors are not worried in these cases that people will be misled by the words they’ve chosen to read -- they’re worried that those words will be effective ... They want to impose their world view on others. Their goal is to lobotomize free thinking and pour in the cement of official orthodoxy.” Carr reposted a supporting comment by X and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who wrote, “Free speech is the bedrock of democracy.” Musk recently closed X’s offices in Brazil due to an investigation over charges of X sharing disinformation. Officials in the U.K. have blamed Musk for inciting anti-immigrant rioting there.
Democratic National Convention delegates were expected to vote Monday night on the Democratic National Committee’s 2024 platform, which includes a pledge that promises the party will “keep fighting to reinstate” the FCC’s lapsed affordable connectivity program. The draft program repeatedly references President Joe Biden and his now-ended reelection bid because the DNC Platform Committee adopted it July 16, before the incumbent stepped aside in favor of new nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, the committee said when it released the document Sunday night. “23 million households received free or monthly discounts” via ACP, “saving $30 to $75 per month on high-speed broadband through the largest internet affordability program in history,” the Democrats’ proposed platform said: The program lapsed “because Republicans refused to act.” ACP's supporters are tempering their expectations that Congress will act to restore the subsidy this year despite the Senate Commerce Committee successfully advancing a surprise amendment July 31 to the Proper Leadership to Align Networks for Broadband Act (S-2238) that would allocate $7 billion to the program for FY 2024 (see 2408090041). The DNC platform references the Biden administration’s implementation of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included $65 billion for connectivity. “We’re bringing affordable, reliable, high-speed internet to every American household,” the platform said. “But a full 45 million of us still live in areas where there is no high-speed internet. Democrats are closing that divide.” Democrats are also “determined to strengthen data privacy,” through passage of a revamped “Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights” and an update of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act “to protect personal electronic information and safeguard location information.” The document notes Democrats' continued push to “fundamentally reform” Communications Decency Act Section 230 and “ensure that platforms take responsibility for the content they share.” It also mentions Democrats’ interest in “promoting interoperability between tech services and platforms, allowing users to control and transfer their data, and preventing large platforms from giving their own products and services an unfair advantage in the marketplace.”