FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel last week again called for Congress to appropriate an additional $3.08 billion to fully fund the commission’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. Lawmakers are eyeing a range of legislative vehicles for allocating the additional rip-and-replace money during Congress’ lame-duck session, but some leaders are skeptical a deal is possible (see 2411190064). Thirty program participants certified with the FCC by Nov. 20 “that the removal, replacement, and disposal work … has been completed,” but “many have additional invoices to submit should Congress appropriate additional funding,” Rosenworcel said in letters to the leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees and Appropriations Financial Services subcommittees released Monday. The commission has been prorating payments to program participants absent additional appropriations (see 2305040085). As of Nov. 20, the FCC “granted 139 extensions” for participants to complete the rip-and-replace work beyond statutory deadlines, “including 118 based in whole or in part on the funding shortfall,” Rosenworcel told lawmakers. “Some participants … have informed the Commission that they fear that they may need to shut down portions of their networks and withdraw from this process without completing the removal of insecure equipment” if Congress doesn’t allocate the rest of the money. Competitive Carriers Association CEO Tim Donovan, a vocal backer of the program, said in a statement the “lack of necessary funding, as detailed in [Rosenworcel’s] letter, is alarming and far-reaching.” Some participants “have already shut down portions of their networks” and the lack of full funding “poses grave risks to U.S. national security, as insecure foreign-made communications equipment remains operational.”
Congress should require that the likely next FCC chair, Commissioner Brendan Carr, “commit to protecting free speech and the public interest” because as a sitting commissioner he won't have a Senate confirmation process to lead the agency, and he's “a threat to free speech,” Free Press co-CEO Jessica Gonzalez wrote in an opinion column in The Hill Saturday. Gonzalez highlighted Carr’s public statements on using the FCC news distortion and equal opportunity rules against broadcasters and FCC regulation of social media platforms as evidence that he is a free speech threat. “Talk about Orwellian,” Carr responded in a post on X. “My decision to stand up for the free speech rights of everyday Americans and against the censorship cartel is not the threat, enforced silence is.”
The FCC unanimously approved an order aligning rules for the 24 GHz band with decisions made at the World Radiocommunication Conference held five years ago (WRC-19). Released Monday, the order aligns part 30 of the commission’s rules for mobile operations in the band with Resolution 750 limits adopted at WRC-19 to protect the passive 23.6-24 GHz band from unwanted emissions on time frames adopted at the conference.
Tapped to lead the FCC during the second Trump administration (see 2411170001), FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is expected to be as aggressive as possible on spectrum and wireless siting issues, industry experts said. During President-elect Donald Trump's first administration, then-Chairman Ajit Pai made Carr lead commissioner on wireless siting.
Several large TV station groups stopped displaying weather radar maps because the FCC hasn’t granted an extension of the audible crawl waiver, NAB said in an ex parte filing posted Friday. The audible crawl rule requires that broadcasters provide an aural description of visual, non-textual emergency information like moving radar maps, but the FCC has repeatedly and continuously waived it since 2015 because broadcasters maintained compliance isn’t technologically possible. "The technology for automated audio description of a dynamic image simply does not yet exist to permit broadcasters to effectively and efficiently abide by the non-textual component of the Audible Crawl Rule,” NAB said in a previous filing requesting an extension of the waiver The FCC is seeking comment on granting another extension (see 2411250059) but didn’t temporarily extend the waiver that expired Tuesday to include the comment period as it has in similar circumstances. “Because compliance with the existing rule remains impossible, absent a waiver, many broadcasters will stop providing radar maps and other visual, non-textual emergency information, due to concerns about potential Commission enforcement,” NAB said. In Friday’s filing, NAB asked that the FCC grant an expedited, brief and retroactive extension of the waiver while the agency considers its request for a longer extension. The comment period for the longer extension closes Jan. 9. The American Council for the Blind backs the expedited extension request, NAB said. “There is no doubt that the Commission’s inaction regarding a waiver extension will harm the public,” NAB said. “It will lead to diminished useful information about emergencies for all Americans, including deaf and hard of hearing individuals who may rely on the visual emergency information conveyed by radar maps and similar images.” As part of the current extension request, NAB has also asked that the FCC change the rule to specify "that compliance is fulfilled if a station provides textual crawls that provide emergency information duplicative or equivalent to the information conveyed by the visual image.”
The FCC’s Office of General Counsel dismissed an appeal of FCC Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin’s ruling that the same attorney can't represent multiple parties in the hearing proceeding on the TV and radio licenses of Antonio Guel and the Hispanic Christian Community Network (see 2409130064). Petitioners Maria Guel and Jennifer Juarez -- Antonio Guel’s daughter and niece, respectively -- wanted broadcast attorney Dan Alpert to represent them in the case, though he also represents Antonio Guel. The hearing proceeding is based in part on allegations that Antonio Guel pretended that he sold his stations to Juarez while actually retaining control of them, and filings in the case show Maria Guel and Antonio Guel as heading multiple companies involved in the matter. That makes Alpert’s representation of all three a conflict, Halprin ruled in September. Juarez and Maria Guel appealed that ruling to the OGC but did so without seeking authorization from Halprin, FCC Associate General Counsel Chin Yoo said in an order posted Nov. 27. “Since the Petitioners did not seek such leave, we dismiss the appeal on procedural grounds as unauthorized, without reaching the merits,” the order said.
The Utilities Technology Council supported not raising power levels for new very-low-power (VLP) devices across the 6 GHz band, the approach taken in an order teed up for an FCC commissioner vote on Dec. 11 (see 2411200050). UTC representatives met with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “Unlicensed operations in the 6 GHz band, including VLP, pose a significant potential of harmful interference to utility fixed microwave licensed systems, which in turn could compromise the safety, reliability and security of utility critical infrastructure and personnel,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295. “UTC is concerned that higher power VLP operations would pose an even greater risk of causing harmful interference to utility fixed microwave licensed systems,” the filing said. The group also spoke with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks.
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau on Wednesday asked for comment in 30 days on a petition for rulemaking by Fine Point Technologies seeking standardized broadband speed testing protocols. “This proposal is aimed at ensuring consistent, reliable, and equitable speed testing for broadband users, regardless of the specific hardware or proprietary technology implemented by individual manufacturers,” said a company filing. “Proprietary testing protocols tied to specific [equipment] manufacturers can create discrepancies that misrepresent actual user experiences, potentially leading to misinformation or unmet expectations,” Fine Point said. Comments should be filed in RM-11991.
Supporters of opening the lower 12 GHz band for fixed wireless use remain hopeful about a favorable FCC decision. That's despite the opposition from SpaceX and the major role its CEO, Elon Musk, is now playing ahead of the start of the second Trump presidency. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the agency, has said repeatedly he will follow the guidance of FCC engineers about the band's future (see 2207140053).
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, President-elect Donald Trump's pick as agency chair, has signaled he would be receptive to banning pharmaceutical advertising on broadcast television, but attorneys, analysts and industry officials told us any attempt to do so would face an uphill battle. “I think it probably requires that two-step, where Congress passes a law, or maybe [the Department of Health and Human Services] HHS can do it, but there is precedent where that happens and the FCC enforces it,” Carr said during a recent interview with radio host Dana Loesch. Losing pharma ads would be a “major hit” for TV broadcasters, as the industry represents nearly a third of local TV ad spending, said BIA Advisory Services Managing Director Rick Ducey. In 2023, pharmaceuticals spent $2.4 billion on broadcast TV ads, according to Media Radar.