Anuvu is supposed to show how the C-band Relocation Payment Clearinghouse was wrong in finding that the company can't get reimbursed for its German facility modifications, but it hasn't made the case of where the clearinghouse erred, the FCC Enforcement Bureau said in a brief posted Monday (docket 21-333). The bureau said much of Anuvu's argument revolves around one footnote in the FCC's C-band clearing order, and the agency can't make broad policy announcements in footnotes. But the C-band clearing order repeatedly makes clear that reimbursement of transition costs is only for those incurred within the U.S., the bureau said.
An FCC order that addresses gear authorization rules, which commissioners approved in October, will take effect Dec. 26, said a notice for Tuesday’s Federal Register. The order clarifies that rules prohibiting authorization of covered equipment include modular transmitters and imposes a prohibition on the authorization of devices that include modular transmitters that are covered equipment (see 2510280024).
Representatives of the Alaska Telecom Association met with staff from the FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics to seek clarity on the eligible-areas map for the Alaska Connect Fund, according to a filing posted Monday in docket 23-328. Association members “inquired about the data set used to create the Map and urged the Commission to provide additional information about the areas that have been deemed ineligible.” They noted the burden of testing and challenging large areas of the map where service may not be available today.
Google subsidiary Starfish is seeking FCC approval to build and test parts of the Bulikula submarine cable system in U.S. territory while the agency reviews the cable landing license application. In a special temporary authority application Friday, Starfish said it needs approval by Dec. 16 so cable-laying activities in U.S. territory can start on schedule. The Bulikula system would connect Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Hawaii to Fiji and French Polynesia. Google applied for FCC approval in November 2024 (see 2411180002).
The FCC commissioners' last meeting of 2025 will see votes on draft orders about robocalls and low-power TV (LPTV), Chairman Brendan Carr blogged Monday. He told reporters after the agency's meeting last week that the December agenda would likely be lighter than some previous months.
The two major differences between the draft and final versions of the FCC's NPRM on rules for an upper C-band auction were questions about a potential tribal window for the spectrum and about future satellite and other uses. Commissioners approved the notice 3-0 at Thursday's meeting (see 2511200046), where the changes were discussed. The final NPRM was posted in Monday’s Daily Digest.
FCC General Counsel Adam Candeub faced some tough questions as he defended the agency's order establishing a regime that's designed to promote use of the 4.9 GHz band by giving the FirstNet Authority access to the spectrum (see 2509160005). A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral argument Monday.
Sinclair made an unsolicited offer to buy all outstanding shares of E.W. Scripps in a deal that it said could proceed under existing broadcast-ownership rules, according to an SEC filing Monday. “We are confident that under existing rules, including the national cap, the transaction can be completed in a timely manner with limited select divestitures,” the company said in the filing. The proposal includes provisions “to reinforce the combined company’s journalistic independence.”
A social media post by President Donald Trump on Sunday condemning proposals to do away with the national cap on TV station ownership drew a flurry of responses Monday from NAB, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook and Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, who wants the cap to remain in place. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has been widely seen as likely to do away with the cap, but he has also been clear about his deference to Trump. “If this would also allow the Radical Left Networks to ‘enlarge,’ I would not be happy,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “ABC & NBC, in particular, are a disaster - A VIRTUAL ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY. They should be viewed as an illegal campaign to the Radical Left. NO EXPANSION OF THE FAKE NEWS NETWORKS. If anything, make them SMALLER! President DJT.”
The ITU's existing equivalent power flux density (EPFD) power limits on non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellites protect SES' ability to offer service while giving NGSOs regulatory certainty, company representatives told the office of FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez last week. In a filing posted Friday, (docket 25-157), SES said that with thousands of NGSOs launched in the last five years, and NGSO total capacity exceeding geostationary orbit capacity, it's hard to see how the EPFD limits are too protective of GSOs. The EPFD limits might be 25 years old, but they're not automatically outdated, SES argued. In addition, the company said its EPFD concerns "are not hypothetical," as it has seen a yearlong harmful interference incident from an NGSO system operating well in excess of the EPFD limits. The NGSO operator is working to fix the problem, but the interference still hasn't been fully corrected, it added.