Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
Satellite operators are in a tug-of-war with terrestrial interests -- and at times with one another -- over the 12.7 GHz band, according to reply comments this week in docket 25-180. Initial comments in the proceeding also saw satellite industry interest in opening the 12.7 GHz band to satcom (see 2507290045). The FCC adopted a Further NPRM in May asking about opening the 12.7, 42 and 51.4-52.4 GHz bands, as well as parts of the W band, to satellite communications (see 2505280055).
The push by the first Trump administration to create a fourth national wireless carrier -- after Sprint exited the market when T-Mobile bought it -- could be over, industry experts said following the announcement that AT&T was buying much of EchoStar’s spectrum portfolio for $23 billion (see 2508260052).
The ATSC 3.0 Security Authority (A3SA) has a “uniform set of policies that applies equally and objectively to all manufacturers of a particular device type,” and it's interested in bringing gateway devices to market, said Pearl TV and A3SA in a meeting with acting Media Bureau Chief Erin Boone and other bureau staff last week, according to an ex parte filing posted Tuesday. Recent filings at the agency have accused the A3SA of using encryption requirements (see 2508180062) to block ATSC 3.0 device manufacturers (see 2507220075).
Carriers must continue following the FCC’s 2024 data breach rules after a recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decision upholding a fine against T-Mobile, lawyers at Akin said Monday (see 2508150044).
The FCC Wireless Bureau on Tuesday extended for two years a temporary waiver that allows use of the interim volume control testing method for hearing-aid compatibility (HAC) compliance. The waiver will now expire Sept. 29, 2027. The extension was requested by CTIA and had the support of industry commenters (see 2507210008). Groups representing consumers said any additional waiver must be limited and come with “safeguards and guardrails.” The bureau is requiring CTIA, in coordination with the Telecommunications Industry Association, to file two reports updating the FCC on their progress toward a permanent solution.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday scheduled oral argument in a case examining the legality of the FCC’s prison-calling order. It's set for Oct. 7 at 9:30 a.m. in the En Banc Courtroom at the Moakley Courthouse in Boston. The court last month rejected the FCC's request to hold the case in abeyance given the Wireline Bureau’s decision to delay some incarcerated people’s communications service deadlines until April 1, 2027 (see 2507160027). “There will be no continuance except for grave cause,” the court said.
FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty said she will work with agency colleagues to address the digital divide in Alaska after a weeklong visit to the state, said a news release in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. Trusty’s trip involved meetings with “industry leaders, as well as federal, state, local, and Tribal stakeholders” on broadband expansion “to some of the nation’s most remote and difficult-to-serve areas,” the release said.
Regulatory changes being pushed by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr will likely have little effect on broadband deployment, New Street’s Blair Levin said during an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation webinar Tuesday. Other speakers noted that for the most part, the U.S. broadband market is highly competitive and getting more so, as fixed-wireless access and satellite broadband become more widespread.
A federal judge has ordered the FCC to produce information about the Department of Government Efficiency’s activities at the agency in response to a Freedom of Information Act request and lawsuit from journalist Nina Burleigh and public interest group Frequency Forward. The information released so far in response to the FOIA shows that one of the DOGE staffers detailed to the FCC may have had ties to its regulatees, including SpaceX.