FCC Chairman Brendan Carr names Joseph Calascione, ex-Akin Gump and FCC, Wireline Bureau chief, replacing acting Chief Trent Harkrader ... Vonage promotes Seckin Arikan to COO; Christophe Van de Weyer, formerly Proximus Group, replaces him as president and head of business unit API … Changes at TowerCom: George Davis promoted to CEO; Matt Richard to CFO, replacing Dave Olson, a board member; Chip Bulloch to senior vice president-East, a new position; John Stevens, ex-Boingo Wireless, joins as regional vice president-West, replacing Chris Colton, deceased ... Correction: Trent Harkrader, who has stepped down as acting FCC Wireless Bureau chief, has been at the agency since 1999 (see 2504280019).
EchoStar's Hughes subsidiary has reached Jupiter 3 coordination agreements with SpaceX and other non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite operators, but talks with Amazon about its Kuiper constellation continue, EchoStar told the FCC Space Bureau in a filing posted Tuesday. The coordination agreements -- to ensure that Jupiter 3 operations at 18.8-19.3 GHz and 28.6-29.1 GHz don't cause harmful interference -- were a condition of the approval of the satellite, which launched in 2023. EchoStar said it has met with Kuiper and the FCC on multiple occasions in coordination discussions. With the coordination agreement to be reached at least 60 days before launch of the NGSO system, EchoStar said it was submitting to the FCC its interference protection plan for Kuiper operations at 18.8-19.3 GHz and 28.6-29.1 GHz. The inaugural batch of Kuiper's satellites intended for commercial broadband service launched Monday and "were operating as expected in low earth orbit," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote Tuesday on X.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez hopes broadcasters “will show courage” in the face of FCC threats against free speech and a free press, she said Monday in an interview on CNN. “The danger of any kind of capitulation by any entity that capitulates to demands to censor or chill speech is it breeds further capitulation,” she said. “It is my hope, in fact, that we will see more courage, and we will see more pushback against this administration.” She also said there's no evidence that CBS violated FCC news distortion rules.
New CTIA President Ajit Pai, former chairman of the FCC, met with Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington and their aides, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 25-59. Pai previously met with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr (see 2504230015).
One change of note in the 37 GHz order and Further NPRM approved 4-0 on Monday by the FCC (see 2504280032), when compared with the draft version, is the addition of language on the development of a dynamic spectrum management system (DSMS) in the band. The FCC posted the approved item Tuesday. It “does not foreclose the adoption of a DSMS in the future,” the FNPRM now says: “We seek comment on the possibility of replacing the coordination framework we adopt today with a DSMS. What metrics might the Commission use to determine that use of the 37 GHz band has reached sufficient scale to merit further exploration of adopting a DSMS to coordinate use of the band?”
CTIA urged the FCC to schedule an AWS-3 reauction without delay and dismiss calls for a tribal licensing window, according to reply comments on a March public notice on FCC bidding procedures. The record that’s been developed “demonstrates broad support for the Commission’s proposed procedures, including the efficient, time-tested Clock-1 auction format,” CTIA said this week in docket 25-117. In initial comments, the group disagreed sharply with tribal interests that urged a tribal window (see 2504110040).
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced Tuesday that one of his former aides, Joseph Calascione, is returning to the FCC as chief of the Wireline Bureau. The announcement comes the day after Carr said acting Chief Trent Harkrader is leaving the agency after 26 years (see 2504280019). Calascione joined Akin Gump in early 2022. He previously served for 20 months as an acting legal adviser to Carr. “His legal and policy expertise on wireline and other communications issues will enable the FCC to modernize its regulatory frameworks” and “unleash economic opportunity,” Carr said.
The House voted 409-2 Monday night to approve the Senate-passed Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act (S-146), which President Donald Trump is likely to sign into law. In addition, the House cleared five other tech and telecom bills Monday night on voice votes: the Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security Act (HR-866), Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act (HR-906), Rural Broadband Protection Act (HR-2399), Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhanced Networks Act (HR-2449) and the Secure Space Act (HR-2458). The chamber earlier Monday passed two other measures (see 2504280055): the Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains Act (HR-2480) and NTIA Reauthorization Act (HR-2482).
The FCC listed freeing spectrum, facilitating the space application review process and sending warning letters to broadcast networks and tech companies as accomplishments in a news release Tuesday touting its work during the first 100 days of the Trump administration.
Some FCC rules targeted for the deregulatory ax under the agency’s “Delete, Delete, Delete” proceeding were defended in reply comments, according to filings this week in docket 25-133, where replies were due Monday. The proceeding saw legions of initial commenters mentioning regulations from all corners of the communications regulation sphere (see 2504140063, 2504140046 and 2504140037). Replies were similarly active and far-reaching.