CTIA called on the FCC to update its rules to spur the deployment of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). “Decades-old restrictions on airborne spectrum use in certain bands, which were put in place when only traditional aircraft existed, limit the ability to use modern communications networks to support UAS operations,” CTIA said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 25-133. Current spectrum regulations “prohibit airborne operations in some bands due to restrictions in either the federal rules themselves or the Table of Frequency Allocations.” But these restrictions didn’t “contemplate the interference-mitigation capabilities of modern wireless network design, nor development of low-altitude air vehicles like drones. Such airborne use restrictions on flexible-use commercial wireless spectrum are outdated, burdensome, and impede innovation, making them ripe for Commission review.”
Representatives of the National Sheriffs’ Association met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty about the group’s concerns over last year’s rules on incarcerated people’s communications services (see 2501280053). The group “summarized the major arguments in its past filings, with particular emphasis on the role of safety and security measures in enabling access to IPCS,” said a filing this week in docket 23-62. It also “discussed the role tablets play in the carceral setting.”
Missouri-based Bluebird Fiber said Tuesday that it hopes to close on its purchase of Everstream's assets by the end of the year. The purchase received U.S Bankruptcy Court approval last week, but Bluebird said the closing still requires regulatory approvals. Bluebird CEO Jason Adkins said Everstream's fiber network and staff "will mesh perfectly with our fiber network and team." The newly combined company "will form one of the largest fiber enterprise businesses in the Midwest." The sale doesn't include Everstream's Pennsylvania assets, which are being wound down. Ohio-based Everstream has told the FCC it doesn't want its Chapter 11 bankruptcy to interrupt service operations or affect rates or terms of service for existing customers (see 2505300037).
The FCC Technological Advisory Council approved reports from its three working groups on Tuesday at the body's final meeting under its former charter. The reports weren't immediately available. It was the first TAC meeting since December (see 2412190065), when former Chairman Dean Brenner announced he was leaving. A replacement hasn't been named since his departure in January. TAC will continue under a new charter.
Most commenters emphasized the importance of flexibility and developing rules that will accommodate change in comments on a next-generation 911 Further NPRM that commissioners approved 4-0 in March (see 2503270042). Initial comments were due Monday in docket 21-479. The FNPRM proposes updates to the agency’s 911 reliability rules, extending those that cover legacy 911 networks to service providers that control or operate critical pathways and components in NG911 networks.
Broadcasters called for the FCC to save their industry by immediately eliminating the national TV ownership cap in comments filed in docket 17-318 by Monday’s deadline. Meanwhile, MVPD groups, labor unions, public interest groups and conservative entities Newsmax and the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) disputed the FCC’s authority to alter the cap and said doing so would hurt localism, retransmission consent rates and journalism.
Ahead of Thursday’s meeting, FCC commissioners approved three of the items that were expected to get votes. Among those approved was a notice of inquiry that considers revising how the FCC examines competition in its Telecom Act Section 706 reports to Congress. Commissioners have also already approved an NPRM launching a comprehensive review of the agency's rules on business data services (BDS) and a notice on modernizing the disaster information reporting system (DIRS) (see 2508040048). The FCC posted a deletion notice and press releases Tuesday.
Emergency Alert System Test Reporting System (ETRS) Form One filings are due Oct. 3, said the FCC Public Safety Bureau in a public notice Monday. The ETRS is open for filings, it said. Form One “includes identifying and background information such as EAS designation, EAS monitoring assignments, facility location, equipment type, contact information, and other relevant data.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau on Monday released a list of U.S. counties where conditional forbearance from the obligation to offer Lifeline-supported voice service applies. Under the commission’s 2016 Lifeline order (see 1807230027), the "forbearance applies only to the Lifeline voice obligation of eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) that are designated for purposes of receiving both high-cost and Lifeline support" and not to Lifeline-only ETCs, the bureau said. The 2016 order established the forbearance "in targeted areas where certain competitive conditions are met,” and the FCC “directed the Bureau to release a yearly public notice announcing the counties in which the competitive conditions are met.”
The Rural Wireless Association fired back at Verizon and UScellular arguments that the FCC should approve their proposed spectrum deal (see 2507230030). Replies were due Friday in docket 25-192. Last week, RWA and other groups filed a challenge to an FCC Wireless Bureau order approving T-Mobile’s buy of wireless assets from UScellular, which is exiting the business (see 2507110045).