NCTA and other groups raised concerns about AT&T’s proposed buy of 3.45 GHz licenses from UScellular in comments posted Monday in docket 25-150. “Far from being routine, this waiver would push AT&T to the edge of -- or beyond -- longstanding spectrum thresholds in numerous markets, with broad implications for mid-band spectrum access and wireless market structure nationwide,” NCTA said. The transaction is tied to UScellular's proposed sale of wireless assets, including spectrum, to T-Mobile, which has also proven to be controversial (see 2504150046).
A journalist and public interest group have sued the FCC in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to compel the agency to release records related to the Department of Government Efficiency. Nina Burleigh, a contributor to The New Republic and The New York Times, and Frequency Forward jointly asked the court to require the FCC to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request for records on DOGE’s activities at the agency. The FCC hasn’t answered the March 4 request, the complaint said, even though a response was due March 24. DOGE’s efforts could create a conflict of interest because FCC regulatee Starlink and DOGE are controlled by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the complaint said. Starlink has requested Rural Digital Opportunity Fund dollars, and information accessed by DOGE could give Musk an unfair advantage, it said. “No apparent effort has been made to segregate Musk from the FCC’s decision-making process.” Frequency Forward is a newly created group based out of the office of Smithwick & Belendiuk, which is representing the group in both the FOIA matter and a recent petition against Sinclair (see 2504150056).
Former FCC Chairmen Tom Wheeler and Al Sikes blasted the Trump administration in a Newsweek op-ed for upending 90 years of precedent in only two months and turning the agency into “a blatantly partisan tool.” Wheeler, a Democrat, and Sikes, a Republican, faulted FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for attacking free speech and President Donald Trump for eliminating the FCC’s independence. Carr has said protection of the public interest is the rationale behind his attacks on broadcast networks and others but hasn’t defined the term, they said. “Using vague government policy as a tool of political coercion is a tactic historically associated with authoritarian regimes.” Carr has also said he would hold a proceeding to clarify the meaning of public interest, but “to his discredit, he has yet to follow through,” the chairmen said. “Instead, he has commenced investigations into supposed violations of a standard whose details only he knows.” It's “now up to Chairman Carr to prevent such abuse by clearly defining his construction of the public interest standard and its relationship to the First Amendment," the chairmen wrote. The FCC didn't comment.
The FCC needs to do more to ensure that its broadband map data is complete, accurate and reliable, and federal agencies broadly need to work together better to prevent duplication of their broadband program efforts, according to the Government Accountability Office. In a report Monday, the GAO called the accuracy of FCC broadband map data "uncertain" and said the agency must document or assess whether it does enough to ensure accuracy. It gave the FCC, NTIA, Department of Agriculture and Treasury Department -- which administer the bulk of federal broadband deployment funding -- a mixed report card for their coordination efforts with one another. There's more to be done among those agencies in such areas as defining common outcomes, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and bridging organizational cultures, the report said. They need to define their collaborations more clearly and document a formal process for avoiding duplicate funding, it added. The FCC didn't comment.
Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said Monday she's “not worried” about the possibility that President Donald Trump may fire her amid concerns it could happen if the Senate confirms Republican commission nominee Olivia Trusty. Senate approval of Trusty would give Republicans an outright majority at the FCC. As such, the commission would have a mandated three-member quorum without Gomez and fellow Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, who plans to retire this spring (see 2503180067). The Senate Commerce Committee is set to vote Wednesday on advancing Trusty to the full chamber (see 2504230051).
With a 4-0 vote, FCC commissioners on Monday approved an order and Further NPRM aimed at spurring greater use of the 37 GHz band, which the Biden administration targeted for repurposing (see 2412030057). As expected, the FCC tweaked the item (see 2504250051), led by changes sought by Commissioner Geoffrey Starks.
The Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI) slammed the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials’ request that the FCC launch an NPRM on rules for the 4.9 GHz band (see 2502070020), including increasing the equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) limits to make the band more attractive for 5G. AT&T, which stands to benefit through its partnership with FirstNet, strongly supported the change.
The FCC unanimously approved NPRMs on robocalls, satellite spectrum sharing and updated foreign-ownership rules at its April meeting Monday. The agency also unanimously approved an order on creating a licensing framework for the 37 GHz band (see 2504280032).
Paramount Global has eliminated its diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the face of America First Legal lawsuits against the company and its CBS subsidiary, the conservative administrative law nonprofit said last week. AFL said it has also secured a settlement with Paramount and CBS regarding an AFL client -- a script supervisor for the show SEAL Team -- who alleged discrimination by dint of not being an underrepresented minority. Paramount has committed to no longer setting numerical goals related to race, ethnicity, sex or gender and no longer collecting demographic data of applicants, AFL said. Paramount didn't comment Friday. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has also targeted DEI initiatives at companies the agency regulates (see 2503280038).
The FCC Enforcement Bureau’s Region One office in Maryland sent a warning to a business in Hartford, Connecticut, about pirate radio broadcasts from its property, said an agency notice of illegal pirate radio broadcasting issued Friday. EB agents in Boston found unauthorized radio broadcasts coming from the property owned by 30 Arbor Street LLC on three different days last year, the notice said. The property appears to include house apartments and a distillery called the Hartford Flavor Co., according to an online search.