AST SpaceMobile's supplemental coverage from space (SCS) partnership with Verizon and AT&T will use the 800 MHz cellular frequencies of those wireless carriers only within the carriers' cellular geographic service areas and adjacent unserved areas, according to Verizon. In a docket 25-201 filing posted Monday, Verizon said the SCS service wouldn't use another carrier's licensed spectrum, as the Competitive Carriers Association has argued (see 2511190020). AST's satellite system will protect in-band and adjacent licensees from harmful interference, and AST operations will be secondary to any nearby wireless operations, Verizon added.
NCTA opposed a waiver request from Brownsville, Texas, asking to operate a city network that uses the citizens broadband radio service band at +60 dBm effective isotropic radiated power, which is higher than the +47 dBm allowed by FCC rules (see 2511250015). The group is concerned that approving the waiver “would increase the risk of interference with other CBRS operations, undermining the carefully calibrated framework that is vital to the band’s success,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 17-258.
NTCA representatives discussed with the FCC its members' concerns about changes to the enhanced alternative Connect America cost model (E-ACAM) program, according to a filing Tuesday (docket 10-90) that recapped a meeting with aides to Chairman Brendan Carr. Adjustments should be made in a way “that reasonably reflects the costs associated with serving rural geographies and mitigates potentially substantial volatility in support, so that providers can fulfill the obligations of the program consistent with a reasonable ground-level understanding of the areas to be served at the time of program elections,” NTCA said.
The FCC sought comment Tuesday on an interconnected VoIP numbering authorization application from DayStarr. Comments are due Dec. 17 in docket 25-118.
AT&T asked the FCC to allow it to stop offering legacy voice services to some 90,000 customers in 18 states starting on or after Nov. 15, 2026. The carrier previously “grandfathered” the services throughout the affected area and isn’t accepting new applications for service, said a filing posted Tuesday. “Here, as with AT&T’s earlier discontinuance applications approved by the Commission, discontinuing the Affected Services will benefit the public and serve as an important step toward meeting both AT&T’s and the Commission’s goal of advancing next-generation communication technologies.”
CEO Jens Laipenieks and others from the Arctic Slope Telephone Association Co-op met with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on how delays in permitting construction plans are affecting implementation of the Alaska Connect Fund. For example, the group cited the problems that the Tanana Chiefs Conference has had installing fiber connecting three unserved communities under a $35 million grant, said a filing Tuesday in docket 23-328.
The House Commerce Committee is planning a meeting Wednesday to mark up the Communications Subcommittee-cleared American Broadband Deployment Act (HR-2289) and six bipartisan connectivity bills that the subpanel advanced in November (see 2511180053). House Commerce said Monday night that the bills on the docket are the Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act (HR-1343), Facilitating the Deployment of Infrastructure With Greater Internet Transactions and Legacy Applications Act (HR-1588), Deploying Infrastructure With Greater Internet Transactions and Legacy Applications Act (HR-1665), Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act (HR-1681), Standard Fees to Expedite Evaluation and Streamlining Act (HR-1731) and the Broadband and Telecommunications Rail Act (HR-6046).
Comments are due Jan 2, replies Feb.2, in docket 22-2 on an NPRM proposing various changes to the FCC’s broadband label rules, said a notice for Wednesday’s Federal Register. The agency approved the NPRM 2-1 in October (see 2510280024), with a dissent by Commissioner Anna Gomez, who found some of the changes anti-consumer.
The FCC asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to lift the stay in Consumers’ Research’s latest challenge to the USF, according to a filing Monday in docket 25-60535. Petitioners agreed to the motion, said the agency, which previously sought the delay until the government reopened (see 2511040071).
AT&T became the latest carrier to reassure FCC Chairman Brendan Carr that it's moving away from any trace of diversity, equity and inclusion in its hiring and other practices. Verizon and T-Mobile previously made similar promises to win favor with the FCC and approval of transactions before the agency. Commissioner Anna Gomez warned AT&T that appeasing President Donald Trump's administration carries reputational risks.