U.S. Supreme Court justices could decide Jan. 9 whether to grant cert and potentially address a circuit split over fines that the FCC imposed on AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile for violating the agency's data privacy rules (see 2512150027). That’s the date of the next conference for justices to decide which cases to hear. The data fine case, 25-567, was distributed for discussion then, the court said Tuesday.
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation filed comments Wednesday supporting an FCC proposal to forbear from enforcing incumbent interconnection obligations specific to local exchange carriers. Initial comments the agency's IP interconnection NPRM, approved by commissioners in October (see 2510280024), are due Jan. 5 in docket 25-304.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions. New cases are marked with a *.
Few changes are expected to an FCC order and further NPRM to expand the commission’s VoIP numbering authorization rules, which commissioners will vote on Thursday. One of the biggest points of contention has been whether to change language citing a $4.5 million robocall-related fine against Telnyx. There were only three ex parte filings on the item in docket 13-97, and two addressed the Telnyx issue, including a filing by the company (see 2512040005).
The FCC Wireline Bureau released Wednesday the final eligible services list for FY 2026 for the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism program. The bureau declined to make several changes sought by commenters in response to a bureau notice about the list, including those on the treatment of managed internal broadband services (MIBS), a top focus of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and other groups (see 2511140019).
The FCC drew controversy Wednesday by removing a description of it as an “independent” U.S. agency from its online mission statement in the middle of a Senate Commerce Committee hearing where commission Chairman Brendan Carr faced questions on the agency's role under President Donald Trump. During the hearing, Carr sparred with sometimes-hostile panel Democrats on his media regulatory actions, including his mid-September threats against ABC and parent Disney, which were widely perceived as bringing about the network’s since-reversed decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air (see 2512170070).
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s appearance at a Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing went largely as expected (see 2512160052), with the GOP official sparring with sometimes-hostile panel Democrats on his media regulatory actions since taking over as agency head in January. The FCC also drew controversy Wednesday when it scrubbed a description of the commission as an “independent” U.S. agency from a mission statement on its website during the hearing, where Carr faced pushback for saying the FCC “is not formally an independent agency” (see 2512170067).
Comments are due Jan. 20, replies Feb. 18, on the FCC's proposal to let upper microwave flexible-use service and fixed-satellite service operators craft voluntary agreements to promote more intensive use of the UMFUS bands, the Space Bureau said Tuesday in docket 25-305. The UMFUS NPRM adopted at the FCC's October meeting (see 2510280024) also asked about revising UMFUS protection criteria.
Charter Communications and Cox Communications are justifying their planned $34.5 billion combination on flawed premises, a Public Knowledge-led group said in an FCC posting Tuesday (docket 25-233). PK, Communications Workers of America, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and the Center for Accessible Technology have petitioned to block Charter/Cox (see 2511190049), and the filing was a reply to the Charter and Cox response (see 2512050028)
Nexstar CEO Perry Sook condemned Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy in an interview with Policyband released Tuesday, calling him a “cafeteria conservative” and saying that arguments that broadcast consolidation limits the voices participating in local news are based on a false choice. “Do you want any local news or no local news? If we maintain the status quo, no changes, I’m telling you that ultimately, your news will come from a server and a chatbot,” Sook said. “There won’t be local newsrooms because no one will be able to afford to stay in that business by being kept regulatorily small.”