House Communications Subcommittee member Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., on Friday night hailed the FCC's publication in the Federal Register of the Public Safety Bureau's January multilingual wireless emergency alerts rules (see 2501080029). Attorneys general from 18 states and the city of New York threatened in November to pursue legal action to force the rules’ publication (see 2511070042). Barragan noted that she led a letter in May with more than two dozen other House Democrats pressing the FCC to publish the rules and begin implementing them.
Consumers should be on the lookout for phone and text message scams during the holidays, said the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau in an alert Monday. Avoid calls or texts from unknown parties, avoid mysterious links and keep an eye out for requests for payment by gift card, the alert said. The bureau also warned about holiday charity scams using phone calls or texts to solicit donations and about package delivery scams claiming that a consumer owes a tariff on an item. “Watch out for text notices saying your purchase is ‘stuck in customs’ or your order will not be delivered until a tariff is paid.” Consumers should check directly with the retailer if they suspect something is wrong, the agency added.
California Public Utilities Commission Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth Fox is recommending that the CPUC approve Verizon's purchase of Frontier Communications, subject to an array of conditions, including state diversity, equity and inclusion requirements. The FCC signed off on the deal in May after Verizon committed to dropping DEI practices (see 505160024). FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has said the agency won't approve mergers at regulated entities that have "invidious" DEI practices (see 2502240073).
WISPA filed a letter at the FCC on Monday asking the agency not to move the citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) operations to another band or otherwise make major changes to the rules (see 2512050029). In other comments posted Monday in docket 17-258, wireless ISPs said they may be forced to shut down if the rules are changed.
The National Emergency Number Association and other stakeholders appeared unconcerned ahead of Tuesday's House Communications Subcommittee hearing (see 2512100055) that a refiled version of the Next Generation 911 Act (HR-6505) doesn’t include a defined amount of proposed funding for NG911 tech upgrades. NENA CEO John Provenzano praised HR-6505 in an interview, as do several scheduled hearing witnesses in their written testimony. The bill would set up a NG911 grants program within NTIA to disburse money for fiscal years 2026-30. The hearing will begin at 10:15 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.
The Center for American Rights kicked off an online campaign Monday supporting the elimination of the broadcast TV ownership cap and targeting the Senate Commerce Committee's FCC oversight hearing Wednesday. In an interview, CAR President Daniel Suhr told us he bases the group’s FCC filings on President Donald Trump’s social media posts and public comments. He added that CAR’s focus on media resonates with conservatives and has raised its profile, increasing donations to the organization.
The U.S. government, CTIA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce agreed in filings at the U.S. Supreme Court that justices should resolve a circuit split over whether the FCC properly handed down fines against AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile for violating the agency's data privacy rules. AT&T, which won its case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, had also urged SCOTUS to resolve the split (see 2512050055). Briefs were filed last week in docket 25-567.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau's 2025 equal employment opportunity audit letters sent to 27 randomly selected MVPDs contain the same new diversity questions that were added to letters sent to broadcasters earlier this year. Attorneys have described the new questions as “landmines” because the precise nature of the response expected by the agency is unclear (see 2508220035). While previous EEO audit letters asked stations for information on any complaints about “unlawful discrimination” involving the station brought before government entities, the new questions seek information on both internal and external complaints. The questions also go beyond unlawful discrimination related to race, sex, religion and national origin and ask about complaints related to “any bias, sensitivity or any other matters” related to those categories. The letters also tell targeted MVPDs to submit copies of “any formal or informal agreement, contract, policy, practice, or other document that impose requirements or goals (aspirational or otherwise) regarding race, color, religion, national origin or sex on the Unit, contractors, employees or any third parties providing services on behalf of the Unit.” The audit targets include Comcast, Charter, Cox, Cincincatti Bell and Mediacom. Responses to the letters are due Jan. 26.
The FCC Media Bureau has rejected altafiber’s June retransmission consent complaint against Nexstar, said an order Friday. The MVPD had argued that Nexstar violated the FCC’s good faith retransmission consent negotiation rules by demanding high rates and that altafiber carry Nexstar's NewsNation cable network in the Cincinnatiarea, where Nexstar has no broadcast TV stations (see 2506160037). Nexstar didn’t violate the good faith rules because it offered multiple proposals with different terms during negotiations, the order said. “We do not find that these proposals are so 'sufficiently outrageous' that they constitute a violation of the good faith negotiation requirements under the totality of the circumstances test,” the bureau said.
A host of civil rights groups made joint filings last week calling on the FCC to reject Nexstar/Tegna; Gray Media’s proposed purchases of stations from Allen Media, Block Communications and Sagamore Hill; and a Sinclair/Scripps combination, if one is proposed. “These transactions would diminish competition, weaken local journalism, narrow editorial diversity, and further constrain opportunities for underrepresented communities in broadcasting,” said the filing from 23 groups including Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ), the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council, the NAACP, the National Urban League, and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.