FCC Chairman Brendan Carr signaled a possible broadcast hoax or news distortion probe of PBS and NPR in a letter sent Wednesday to those entities, as well as the BBC. The letter came a day after the agency opened a proceeding that appeared to be aimed at encouraging broadcasters to more frequently preempt shows, as they did with Jimmy Kimmel Live! President Donald Trump again called for Kimmel’s firing in a social media post Thursday.
At their November meeting Thursday, the FCC approved a rollback of cybersecurity rules, an NPRM seeking comment on modernizing the telecommunications relay service, and a direct final rule order deleting 21 public safety provisions. The commissioners also approved a proposal for upper C-band rules.
The FCC on Thursday approved 3-0 an NPRM, with tweaks, that moves the agency closer to an auction of upper C-band spectrum, in what would be the first major sale since the 3.45 GHz auction, which ended in 2022. Among the changes were questions on a window to make spectrum available to tribes (see 2511170055) and on access to unused or unassigned spectrum and how to incentivize buildout.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez and top Democrats on the House and Senate Communications subcommittees raised concerns Wednesday night and Thursday about a draft executive order that would direct NTIA to potentially curtail non-deployment BEAD funding for states that the Trump administration determines have AI laws that are overly burdensome (see 2511190069). Gomez questioned the legality of a provision in the draft order directing the FCC to consider adopting a national standard for AI models that preempts state laws.
Charter Communications' proposed acquisition of Cox Communications would mean more gatekeeper power over internet distribution, less competition, higher prices and unequal treatment of underserved communities, according to a petition to deny filed Tuesday (docket 25-233) with the FCC. Petitioners Public Knowledge, the Communications Workers of America, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and the Center for Accessible Technology laid out an array of criticisms of the deal, including over plans to cut Cox employees and their prediction of price hikes on consumers enabled by market concentration.
Small wireless interests are pushing back on plans by AST SpaceMobile, AT&T and Verizon to offer supplemental coverage from space service that doesn't reach the entire continental U.S. The requested CONUS coverage waivers could create interference risks for rural carriers and exclude them from SCS participation, the Competitive Carriers Association argued in its opposition to AST and the carriers' joint application. The group's filing, posted Wednesday (docket 25-201), said waiving the requirement that service cover all CONUS would force primary licensees to prove that it's causing them interference, instead of requiring the applicants to show how they will protect the primary service licensees.
Four major public safety groups on Wednesday opposed a NextNav proposal for the FCC to reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band to enable a “terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT).
The FCC Wireless Bureau on Wednesday extended the comment deadlines on the Alaska Connect Fund eligible-areas map and performance plan template. Comments were previously due Oct. 31, replies Nov. 14. The new deadlines are Dec. 4 for initial comments, Dec. 19 for replies, in docket 23-328.
CTIA told the FCC this week that the results of its recently released annual survey (see 2509080020) demonstrate that wireless voice and broadband service are “broadly available across the U.S.” The survey “aligns with the data” in the FCC’s national broadband map, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 25-223. “The rigorous Broadband Data Collection reporting parameters and review processes for wireless availability data have improved the accuracy, precision, and consistency of the FCC’s wireless maps, and they are accurate and reliable for policymaking purposes.”
The Competitive Carriers Association, which represents wireless carriers, supported an FCC proposal to speed up copper retirements in comments posted Wednesday in docket 25-208. But, the group warned, that step will have only limited success unless the FCC also addresses the IP transition. “Without addressing how voice traffic is exchanged between networks, the transition to IP will remain incomplete and the public safety benefits of network upgrades will be unrealized.”