Sinclair Executive Vice President and CFO Lucy Rutishauser will retire after her successor is named and transitions to the role; after retirement, Rutishauser is expected to remain as senior adviser … Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International names Nicole McGinnis, formerly FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, as chief counsel … Austin Bonner, ex-White House and FCC, returns to HWG as a partner in its telecommunications, issues and appeals, and AI and emerging technologies practice groups … Shane Portfolio, Congruex and formerly Comcast, joins Teleste’s advisory board … CoreWeave adds Jean English, ex-Juniper Networks, as chief marketing officer, new post ... Emergency response center data supplier Carbyne appoints Colby Proffitt, formerly Shift5, as chief marketing officer ... Space service company Spire Global names Alison Engel, formerly LeaseAccelerator, as CFO, replacing Thomas Krywe, interim CFO, who remains as executive adviser through April … Morgan Murphy Media promotes Brian Burns to president-CEO, replacing retiring Elizabeth Murphy Burns, who becomes board chair.
Comments are due April 23, replies May 8, in docket 24-626 on an FCC proposal for cleaning up outdated references and processes in broadcast regulations, said a public notice Monday. “Numerous rule sections still reference outdated terms from the Commission’s legacy paper-filing processing procedures and discontinued databases, and are therefore incompatible with current electronic filing procedures,” the December NPRM said. The item was unanimously approved under the previous administration (see 2412100057).
The FCC on Monday notified the Universal Service Administrative Co. that the Wireline Bureau approves the Rural Health Care program funding 2025 review procedures. That decision is “subject to further modifications and/or instruction from the Commission,” the bureau said in docket 02-60.
Zebra representatives discussed the importance of RAIN RFID in the 900 MHz band during meetings with staff of the four FCC commissioners, the Wireless Bureau and the Office of Engineering and Technology. RAIN refers to "a specific subset of RFID technology that operates in the ultra-high frequency (UHF) range," said a filing posted Monday in docket 24-240. The company opposed NextNav’s proposal to use part of the band for an alternative to GPS, it said. “Zebra emphasized the explosive growth in RAIN RFID systems in recent years and the continued reliance” on the technology “as the backbone of inventory management, asset tracking, supply chain logistics, access control, animal tracking, and loss prevention.”
In adopting its medical body area network (MBAN) rules, the FCC wasn't thinking about possible secondary users of the 2360-2400 MHz band and definitely wasn't looking to protect commercial space launch operations in the 2360-2395 MHz band, GE HealthCare Technologies said. In a docket 13-115 filing Monday, GE said there was no mention of space launch operations in the MBAN orders. Numerous health care facilities rely on GE's telemetry within 200 miles of a SpaceX launch site, and many of those facilities will transition to MBANs in the near future, the company said. It said it's "committed to cooperating" with other users of 2360-2400 MHz, but the FCC should ensure that MBAN operations are protected from newly introduced space launch operations.
The Ultra Wide Band (UWB) Alliance supported a Tesla request for a waiver of FCC rules to allow authorization for a UWB positioning system operating in the 7.5-8.5 GHz frequency range to be used for wireless charging of electric vehicles. The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology sought comment last month, due Monday in docket 25-101 (see 2502250037). Tesla’s proposed use of UWB for peer-to-peer communication and ranging “leverages the unique capabilities of UWB to precisely position the vehicle," the filing said: “UWB is optimal technology for this use, with superior performance, at a very small fraction of the transmit power and thus potential for disruptive interference, compared to other available technologies.”
New Street’s Blair Levin warned Monday that the FCC may block transactions beyond Verizon's proposed buy of Frontier based on whether the companies get rid of diversity, equity and inclusion policies (see 2503210049). Levin specifically mentioned T-Mobile’s proposed purchase of wireless assets from UScellular (see 2405280047) and other deals.
Questions from judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit appeared particularly pointed Monday, aimed at T-Mobile lawyer Helgi Walker of Gibson Dunn, as the court heard the carrier’s challenge of an $80 million FCC fine for allegedly not safeguarding data on customers' real-time location (see 2502190029). T-Mobile was also fined $12.2 million for violations by Sprint, which it later acquired.
A few tweaks are expected to the two wireless items to come before FCC commissioners Thursday at their open meeting, said industry officials active in the proceedings. The items are a notice of inquiry about a wide range of possible alternatives to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) and a draft Further NPRM on 911 wireless location accuracy. The GPS NOI saw numerous ex parte filings seeking tweaks, with only CTIA seeking changes to the location accuracy notice.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr names Carlos Minnix, staff assistant to Commissioner Nathan Simington, to a similar post in his office.