The House Communications Subcommittee plans a hearing Tuesday on the Next Generation 911 Act (HR-6505) and six other public-safety communications measures, the Commerce Committee said Tuesday night. The newly refiled HR-6505 would appropriate an undefined amount of funding for next-generation 911 tech upgrades for FY 2026-30. NG911 advocates have been pressing Congress to identify a new funding source after Republican lawmakers decided against allocating future spectrum auction revenue for the tech upgrades in the July budget reconciliation package (see 2507080065).
President Donald Trump jokingly questioned Wednesday how 6G will be an upgrade over previous wireless technologies during a roundtable with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and tech companies. “So you’re into 6G now?” Trump asked Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon. “I was a leader on 5G, getting that done [during his first administration], and now they’re up to 6. What does that do, give you a little bit deeper view into somebody’s skin? See how perfect it is? I like the cameras [in the old days]. Now they cover every little” detail. Trump suggested that wireless companies would soon enough begin to develop an additional 7G iteration “before 6[G] gets old.”
The FCC on Wednesday released its schedule of open meetings for 2026. The first one is set for Jan. 29.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
An array of educational policy experts and parents lambasted what they see as an overly heavy reliance on technology in classrooms on Wednesday during an NTIA listening session. Administrator Arielle Roth said earlier this month that a focus of the agency is looking at issues related to excessive screen use in educational settings (see 512020015). The FCC's E-rate program was also criticized by multiple speakers.
President Donald Trump signed off Thursday night on an executive order that would direct NTIA to potentially curtail non-deployment funding from the $42.5 billion BEAD program for states that the Trump administration determines have AI laws that are overly burdensome. Some estimates have found that $20 billion in BEAD funding qualifies as non-deployment money. Trump's order is identical to a draft proposal, circulated in November, that drew significant bipartisan opposition.
Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida, lead GOP sponsor of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-979), acknowledged Tuesday night that the House’s timeline for passing the bill has slipped slightly but insisted that its leaders still plan to bring it to the floor for a vote soon. He and other backers of HR-979 and Senate companion S-315 had expected a fast-track House vote earlier this month on the measure, which would require the Department of Transportation to mandate that future automobiles include AM radio technology.
The Amazon-backed Connect Everyone Coalition is pressing agencies including the FCC, DOD and Commerce and Transportation departments to do away with some of the duplicative regulatory approvals needed for space launch activity. In a letter to the agencies Tuesday, the coalition said the separate approvals necessary for launch authorization often involve "uncoordinated timelines and conflicting requirements." Space approvals also often require submitting nearly identical environmental assessments to multiple agencies, when there should be a shared environmental review, it argued. In addition, the group complained about safety reviews done by multiple agencies for launch range safety determinations and "a persistent lack of transparency around launch scheduling and delay decisions." Changes such as a transparent launch coordination mechanism and shared standards and full reciprocity for range safety determinations across federal agencies "will let operators build, lead, innovate and create value for the American people."
Ligado is seeking FCC Space Bureau approval to operate an L-band payload that would be placed on AST SpaceMobile's low earth orbit constellation. In a bureau application Monday, Ligado said the SkyTerra Next payload would provide 5G service to consumers in conjunction with the space-based mobile broadband to be provided by AST. AST would provide telemetry, tracking and control functions for SkyTerra Next, while Ligado would retain operational control of the payload itself, the filing said.
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) wants the FCC, Congress, the White House and DOJ to reject the Nexstar/Tegna deal, the group said Tuesday in a news release, which was highlighted in a separate release from fellow deal opponent Newsmax. “At a time when media bias is already undermining public trust, the last thing our nation needs is even greater consolidation of the television broadcast industry,” said ZOA National President Morton Klein.