Telnyx asked the FCC to strike from a draft robocall order any reference to a proposed $4.5 million robocall-related fine against the company (see 2503050026). The order is set for a vote at the Dec. 18 commission meeting (see 2511250078). The FCC should cut language “that falsely asserts or suggests that there has been a final adjudication concerning Telnyx, including that the Commission made any ‘finding’ against Telnyx or that Telnyx is a ‘bad actor,’” said a filing Wednesday in docket 13-97.
Comments are due Jan. 5, replies Feb. 3, on the FCC's caller ID NPRM, approved by commissioners unanimously in October (see 2510280024). The NPRM seeks comment on a number of issues, including whether to require terminating voice service providers to send verified caller name information to the called party when they transmit call authentication information and whether to require that originating voice service providers verify caller identity information, said a notice for Friday's Federal Register. It also seeks comment on requiring providers to use rich call data to transmit verified caller names on IP networks.
NCTA representatives spoke with FCC staff to urge the agency to impose a uniform 180-day handset-unlocking mandate on all carriers, according to a filing posted Thursday in docket 24-186. “In addition to increasing consumer choice and reducing consumer confusion,” an unlocking mandate would “promote affordability” by “reducing the artificial friction imposed on consumers seeking to switch to more competitive providers.”
The FCC moved quickly this week to seek comment on an NPRM about rules for an upper C-band auction, approved by commissioners 3-0 on Nov. 20. The NPRM includes questions on making spectrum available to tribes. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has acknowledged that the agency is under the gun to move forward on what would be the first major spectrum auction since the 3.45 GHz auction, which ended in 2022 (see 2511200046). Comments are due Jan. 5, replies Feb. 3, in docket 25-59, said a notice for Friday's Federal Register.
Salt Lake City-based NexTalk said Thursday that it was approved by the FCC as a provider of IP captioned telephone service. The approval was “a significant milestone in its mission to make communication more accessible for all,” the company said.
An October FCC order that will increase rates for incarcerated people’s communications services (IPCS) on an interim basis takes effect Friday, said a notice for that day's Federal Register. The agency approved the changes 2-1 with a dissent by Commissioner Anna Gomez (see 2510280045). The required compliance date is 120 days after publication.
The FCC will relinquish the third floor of its Washington headquarters and 33 parking spaces to be occupied by the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General, according to an internal email obtained by Communications Daily. An FCC spokesperson confirmed the move Thursday.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has lifted the stay in Consumers’ Research’s latest challenge to the USF, according to an order Wednesday in docket 25-60535. The FCC previously requested the stay during the government shutdown and earlier this week asked for it to be lifted (see 2512020011).
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr cracked self-deprecating jokes about his relationship with President Donald Trump, the uproar over his conflict with Jimmy Kimmel, and his colleagues on the commission during his first address as chairman at the annual FCBA dinner Wednesday night. Directly across Massachusetts Avenue from the event at Washington’s Marriott Marquis hotel, Free Press, Public Knowledge and Tech Freedom projected criticisms of the Carr administration onto the front of the Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church.
Chairman Charlie Ergen and others from EchoStar met with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and his aides to emphasize that the company didn’t want to sell its spectrum licenses to AT&T and SpaceX (see 2509090036) but was left with little choice, according to an ex parte filing posted Thursday. Meanwhile, EchoStar and AT&T jointly defended the deal in a separate filing posted Thursday in docket 25-303.