The FCC should reject NextNav’s petition on reconfiguring the lower 900 MHz band for 5G-based 3D positioning, navigation and timing operations, said numerous trade groups in filings last week (docket 24-240).
President Donald Trump signed off Thursday night on an executive order that directs NTIA to potentially curtail non-deployment funding from the $42.5 billion BEAD program for states that the Trump administration determines have overly burdensome AI laws (see 2512110068). The order is identical to a draft proposal that circulated in November (see 2511190069). Democratic lawmakers and BEAD supporters quickly disparaged Trump’s directive, which already faced potentially multiple legal challenges because it would preempt many state-level AI regulations.
Pointing out that it operates its global maritime distress and safety service in the U.S. on a waiver, Iridium pressed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's office for an update of the agency's Part 80 rules before the 2027 World Radiocommunication Conference, according to a filing Thursday. The Part 80 rules cover maritime services. The WRC-19 NPRM issued this week (see 2512100054) seeks comment on Part 80 rules updates, and Iridium said it supports a maritime mobile satellite service downlink allocation in the 1621.35-1626.5 MHz band and other changes.
If the FCC opts to depart from the existing power limits protecting geostationary orbit satellite operations from non-geostationary orbit satellite interference, it should adopt short- and long-term protection criteria for non-adaptive coding and modulation satellite networks, DirecTV said. In a docket 25-157 filing posted Thursday recapping company meetings this week with the offices of the three FCC commissioners, DirecTV also urged that any equivalent power flux density (EPFD) changes account for the unique circumstances of non-ACM satellite broadcast networks. It said short-term criteria should be based on a relative increase in unavailability and include mechanisms for showing compliance with protection criteria.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau has reached an $86,400 settlement with American Public Media Group over an incident in which false emergency alert system tones were transmitted by over 500 affiliated stations, said an order and consent decree Wednesday. The tones were broadcast in May 2024, during a BBC Witness History episode titled “Chasing the World’s Biggest Tornado,” the consent decree said. The settlement also requires APM to develop a compliance plan and send compliance reports to the FCC for two years.
Broadcast licensees want the FCC to rebalance the network-affiliate relationship by regulating the contracts stations reach with networks, while the networks don’t believe an imbalance exists or that the FCC has authority over their affiliation agreements, according to comments filed by Wednesday’s deadline in docket 25-322. Stations called for the agency to delve into virtual MVPD negotiations, apply restrictions to network-affiliate contracts, and cap network fees, but the big four networks said the FCC injecting itself here could kill broadcasting. Agency intervention “has the potential to severely disrupt the broadcasting ecosystem, threatening the continued survival of broadcasters facing a thinning market,” said NBCUniversal. “The market is working, and the government should not interfere.”
Changes at the Media Institute: Richard Kaplar steps down as president Jan. 31 after 44 years; the board elects Mike O’Rielly, former FCC commissioner, to replace him.
Laura Loomer, a podcaster widely seen as having the ear of President Donald Trump, endorsed the Nexstar/Tegna deal in a post on X late Tuesday, calling on FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to approve the transaction. Loomer denounced Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, who has been a vocal opponent of the deal (see 2508050051). Ruddy is a “selfish leftist” who “opposes both the Nexstar-Tegna merger and the proposed FCC ownership rule change,” Loomer wrote. His network is widely seen as one of the most conservative TV news channels. Many FCC watchers suspect that Trump’s connection with Ruddy led to the president’s recent post objecting to proposals to do away with the national TV-ownership cap (see 2511240055). Ruddy’s opposition to the deal “only empowers the left and their mainstream media allies, who can still control programming in America through ownership no matter who is in the White House or running the FCC,” Loomer said.
NTIA should look beyond the 2.7-2.9 GHz, 4.4-4.9 GHz and 7.25-7.4 GHz bands to midband spectrum above 7.4 GHz as it searches for spectrum to use for 6G deployments, wrote John Kuzin, Qualcomm's senior vice president of spectrum policy and regulatory counsel, in a blog post Tuesday. Mobile data demands are only going to grow and will require additional spectrum, he noted. If a particular band can't be shared, the FCC and NTIA should consider using auction proceeds to fund relocating the incumbents, who might be able to operate more effectively in less spectrum with equipment updates, he said.
The FCC released two items Wednesday on proposals from past World Radiocommunication Conferences. The full commission issued an order adopting proposals from WRC-15 -- which took place 10 years ago -- and an NPRM seeking comment on proposals from WRC-19. It’s not unusual for the FCC to take years to enact WRC proposals, said Scott Harris, managing partner of Crest Hill Advisors.