The FCC Wireline and Wireless bureaus and the Office of International Affairs want comments by Dec. 9, replies by Dec. 24, on Frontier's proposed sale to Verizon, said a public notice Tuesday in docket 24-445 (see 2410250040). The companies announced the $20 billion deal in September (see 2409050010).
President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate a trio of current and former congressional Republicans with some telecom policy record to posts in his incoming administration. Trump appeared likely to nominate Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as secretary of state. Rubio has been a leading supporter of restricting Huawei and other Chinese telecom vendors’ access to U.S. infrastructure, including by pressing for more funding for the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (see 2211070059). In addition, he has led some legislative efforts that would limit TikTok in the U.S. Trump said he will nominate South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) as secretary of homeland security. A former House member, Noem as South Dakota governor agreed to ban TikTok for state government agencies, employees and contractors using state devices (see 2211290083). Trump selected Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., as national security adviser. Waltz last year unsuccessfully proposed requiring the FCC to issue a final order establishing “a coordinated nationwide approach to managing the 4.9 GHz band” (see 2307190071).
AT&T CEO John Stankey urged lawmakers and the incoming Trump administration in a Tuesday Fortune opinion essay “to act in favor of broader coverage and lower prices by moving past” conducting more studies on reallocating midband spectrum bands, as the Biden administration has emphasized. The government should instead release those frequencies, Stankey wrote. He also endorsed the 2024 Spectrum Pipeline Act (S-3909), which “reauthorizes the FCC’s auction authority and directs the agency to license mid-band airwaves for full-power mobile broadband services. And because auctions, spectrum clearing, and development of sharing mechanisms can take years, it’s important that Congress act expeditiously next year to make it law.” The proposal, led by Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, “is a smart spectrum policy that will stimulate investment, and deliver better mobile coverage and capacity, including in underserved areas,” Stankey said: “It’ll also mean more competition in home broadband by facilitating fixed wireless services in geographically remote places that have been historically harder to reach with wired connections.” Should he becomes Senate Commerce chairman in the next Congress, as observers expect, Cruz will likely prioritize the Spectrum Pipeline Act rather than pursue legislation resembling the rival Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) Democrats back (see 2410290039). Stankey acknowledged DOD concerns about repurposing midband frequencies that currently include military incumbents but said “true national security requires the soft power that comes with a vibrant, competitive economy that makes America the world’s best place to develop cutting-edge technology and enables robust networks that can carry the essential load during unplanned events.” It’s “in the Pentagon’s interest to make an earnest effort to balance the legitimate needs of the military with those of American consumers and businesses to have access to world-class mobile infrastructure."
The FCC's 988 call georouting rule has a compliance deadline of Jan. 13 for nationwide commercial mobile radio service providers and Dec. 14, 2026, for non-nationwide providers (see 2411080002).
Nokia anticipates President-elect Donald Trump will make his tech priorities clear early in the new administration, Brian Hendricks, Nokia’s chief policy and government affairs officer, said in a statement on Monday. “It is critical that programs like rip-and-replace and the Affordable Connectivity Program, which require new funding, be part of the early focus,” Hendricks said: “Failure to address these programs will risk expanding the digital divide, particularly in rural parts of the country. Aggressive action to restore spectrum auction authority to the [FCC] and to prioritize critical bands for future wireless deployments will provide the needed opportunity to fund and stabilize these programs via auction proceeds.” Hendricks called on the administration to work with Congress.
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- An executive from a phone number warehouse defended his company’s practices Tuesday during the NARUC conference. However, the executive, NumberBarn Chief Technology Officer Brian Scott, seemed to heighten concerns for state officials and telecom attorneys who attended the panel. North American Numbering Council Chair Karen Charles, also a Massachusetts commissioner, said she planned to mention warehouse issues at a future NANC meeting.
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The NARUC Telecom Committee on Monday cleared draft resolutions on phone number conservation, the Universal Service Fund and utility coordination on broadband deployment. A USF panel that day described how reform could happen with Republicans controlling the FCC and Congress next year. Also, the affordable connectivity program (ACP) could return in 2025 despite Washington’s partisan climate, said Sanford Williams, deputy chief of staff for FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, during a collocated National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) meeting. State utility regulators are holding their annual meeting here this week.
Eutelsat Group CEO Eva Berneke argued against the proposed absolute increase in unavailability limit for non-geostationary orbit systems in a meeting with FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez. In a docket 21-456 filing posted Friday recapping the meeting, Eutelsat representatives said the unavailability limit in the draft NGSO fixed satellite service spectrum sharing rules on circulation (see 2410040025) would end the ability of NGSO FSS operators to meet high-availability requirements that come with public safety, government and enterprise applications. It said too-lax protection metrics could undermine the desire to invest in the U.S. and make foreign systems avoid coordination with U.S. systems.
The National Consumer Law Center and a diverse group, including associations representing banks and credit unions, are asking the FCC to move forward on a draft order on robotexts and robocalls that Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel pulled from the agenda for the September open meeting (see 2409240068). The groups reported on meetings with aides to Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez. “The Organizations joined together on these meetings because they are united in their commitment to combating criminals who attempt to defraud consumers by impersonating legitimate businesses through illegally spoofed calls and text messages,” said a filing Friday in docket 17-59. “The Organizations affirmed their support for the draft Report and Order.” Groups at the meeting included the American Bankers Association, ACA International, America’s Credit Unions, the Bank Policy Institute and the Mortgage Bankers Association. “Texts that impersonate legitimate businesses harm consumers and undermine those businesses’ ability to communicate with their customers,” they said.
Aviation Spectrum Resources, Inc. (ASRI) told the FCC it doesn’t object to Piper Networks' request for a waiver of rules allowing use of its enhanced transit location system, which operates in the 4243-4743 MHz band, in the metropolitan Boston area. Piper has a similar system in the greater New York City and Harris County, Texas, areas. The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology recently sought comment, due Thursday in docket 19-246. ASRI filed the lone comment, posted Friday. “ASRI has conducted a preliminary review … in consultation with other stakeholders in the aviation industry, which considered recent data on altimeter performance developed in connection with other Commission proceedings,” the company said: “ASRI has not received any objections raised by aviation industry stakeholders at this time to Piper’s request.”