Viya filed at the FCC a revised version of its annual report on its Connect USVI Fund Stage 2 fixed phase-down support for 2024. “In gathering information in response to a request by Commission staff for clarification of certain information in the Original 2024 Report, Viya discovered it had misstated the amount spent on and the percentage completion of one of the approved projects in its spending plan,” the company said in a filing last week in docket 18-143. The error came in information on a subsea cable project, but the revised details were redacted from the report.
Comments on a permanent freeze of jurisdictional separation rules are due April 23, replies May 8, according to a notice for Monday's Federal Register. The FCC requested the comments on behalf of the Federal-State Joint Board on Jurisdictional Separations in February (see 2502140059).
WISPA CEO David Zumwalt wrote Senate Commerce Committee leaders Friday in “strong support” of NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth ahead of her planned Thursday confirmation hearing (see 2503200066). Roth, who is Senate Commerce Republicans’ telecom policy director, “has demonstrated a strong commitment to enhancing U.S. economic growth and technological leadership,” Zumwalt said in a letter to panel Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. “She has played a leading role in crafting policies to address spectrum demand, among other matters, which are essential to the development and innovation of the broadband marketplace.”
The FCC’s new Council for National Security launched its first “major initiative” last week, sending letters to companies on the FCC’s “covered list,” including Chinese players Huawei and ZTE. The agency sent letters to all companies on the list with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and at least one subpoena, said a news release. It didn't mention Russia’s Kaspersky, on the list since March 2022 (see 2203250067). The FCC didn’t comment on the omission Friday.
Grain Management will buy all of T-Mobile's 800 MHz spectrum in exchange for cash and Grain's 600 MHz spectrum portfolio, the companies announced Thursday night. Grain confirmed it plans to make the spectrum available “to U.S. utilities to support mission-critical communications, improve grid resilience, and enhance emergency response capabilities.”
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Friday that the FCC won’t approve mergers and acquisitions for companies with diversity, equity and inclusion policies, according to Bloomberg. He also met with a conservative influencer Wednesday who has been involved in online campaigns against corporate diversity policies.
Eight conservative groups want the FCC to dismiss its news distortion complaint against CBS to prevent setting precedent that could be used against conservative media, said a letter posted Thursday in docket 25-73. The letter -- from Americans for Tax Reform, the Center for Individual Freedom, Digital Liberty and others -- also called for the FCC to eliminate the news distortion and news hoax rules. “All of these rules and procedures open the door for politicians to play politics with broadcasting.”
Representatives from the Wi-Fi Alliance spoke with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr about how to “further unlock the full potential of 6 GHz Wi-Fi,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-295. The alliance discussed the importance of “allowing client-to-client communications under the control of a low-power indoor (LPI) access point” and allowing “higher spectral power density limits for LPI and Very Low Power (VLP) devices,” the filing said. Also discussed were “permitting standard-power access points to operate in motion or with directional antennas” and “alleviating the restriction on VLP devices operating on oil platforms.”
NextNav objected to the International Bridge, Tunnel & Turnpike Association’s (IBTTA) request that the FCC add a question on “interference implications for incumbent spectrum users” to a draft notice of inquiry on alternatives to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (see 2503170013). Commissioners are slated to vote on the NOI on March 27 (see 2503060061). “Adding this question may be inconsistent with footnote 83 of the draft NOI, which states that the proceeding seeking comment on NextNav’s Petition for Rulemaking in the Lower 900 MHz band ‘remains ongoing and independent of this inquiry,’” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 25-110. “Any interference implications of NextNav’s proposal are best evaluated in that separate Commission proceeding, in which IBTTA is actively participating.”
CTIA representatives met with aides to FCC Commissioners Geoffrey Starks, Nathan Simington and Anna Gomez on changes the group is seeking to a draft Further NPRM on 911 wireless location accuracy (see 2503190025). “CTIA and its member companies stand ready to work with the FCC and public safety partners to take a fresh look at the FCC’s regulatory framework to further enhance wireless 911 location accuracy,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 07-114. The FNPRM is set for a commissioner vote March 27 (see 2503060061).