The FCC began to restart operations Thursday that were suspended during the government shutdown (see 2509300060) but immediately extended most post-shutdown deadlines in a bid to control the anticipated avalanche of filings. The agency furloughed 81% of its staff when the shutdown began Oct. 1 (see 2510010065). FCC staff and industry attorneys had raised alarms about what they saw as unclear filing requirements (see 2510160044). The 42-day shutdown, the longest in modern U.S. history, ended late Wednesday night when President Donald Trump signed a legislative package that restored federal appropriations at FY 2025 levels through Jan. 30.
The lower court hearing Ligado's complaint against the federal government erred in not finding that the Communications Act displaced the trial court's jurisdiction over Ligado's takings claims, DOJ said this week in a reply brief (docket 25-1792). The U.S. has an interlocutory appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit regarding a lower court's partial rejection of the government's motion to dismiss the Ligado suit (see 2411180023). Ligado alleged that the DOD is infringing on the company's L-band spectrum rights (see 2310130003).
Representatives for the Association of American Railroads raised concerns during a meeting with FCC Wireless Bureau staff about a proposed voluntary, negotiation-based process to transition 10 MHz in the 900 MHz band to broadband, with 5/5 MHz channels. In 2020, the FCC approved use of 3/3 MHz channels in the band for broadband while retaining 4 MHz for narrowband operations (see 2005130057).
SpaceX and EchoStar on Wednesday submitted to the FCC updated license purchase agreements and public interest statements regarding SpaceX's proposed spectrum license purchases from EchoStar. The original public interest statements in docket 25-302 covered SpaceX's planned purchase of AWS-4 and AWS-H block spectrum and of EchoStar's authorizations for U.S. market access for 2 GHz mobile satellite service. The updated EchoStar and SpaceX filings also incorporate SpaceX's purchase of EchoStar's unpaired AWS-3 spectrum, a deal that was announced last week (see 2511060004).
CTIA representatives supported an NPRM on an upper C-band auction, which was proposed for the Nov. 20 FCC meeting (see 2510290047), in discussions with aides to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty. Other groups have raised concerns.
The telecom industry will see further consolidation of smaller carriers, similar to what happened 20 years ago, Recon Analytics’ Roger Entner said Wednesday during a webinar hosted by Georgetown University's Center for Business and Public Policy. There are still about 1,300 ISPs left in the U.S., which is “a staggering” number, Entner said. He cited examples of the deals being made, including T-Mobile’s purchase of stakes in fiber-based providers like Metronet and Lumos (see 2507090034). There’s a “tremendous amount of activity here underneath the surface" that only sometimes makes headlines.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a post on X Wednesday that the agency will soon be issuing more information on post-shutdown filing deadlines. “Particularly since the shutdown has stretched on for an unprecedented length of time, the agency will be putting additional guidance out at an appropriate time on the reopening process,” Carr said. “FCC staff is going to work in good faith with stakeholders to address the range of questions that will arise and the potential high volume of filings that folks will be seeking to make.”
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
House lawmakers from both parties continued Wednesday to criticize new Senate language in the package to end the government shutdown (HR-5371) that would allow senators to sue federal agencies in response to reports of DOJ spying on some Republican lawmakers' phone records during the Biden administration. The Senate-approved provision targeted claims that the FBI and former Special Counsel Jack Smith accessed the phone records of several Republican lawmakers as part of the Biden administration’s probe of the Jan. 6 Capitol siege (see 2510170039). The House was set to vote Wednesday night on HR-5371, which could lead the FCC to restart most of its operations Thursday. The FCC suspended most of its functions when the government shutdown began Oct. 1. and furloughed 81% of its staff (see 2510010065). The Senate passed HR-5371 Monday night 60-40.
ACA Connects hopes to use the FCC's wide-reaching wireline deployment rules reform proceeding to pursue permitting reforms and stop local rate regulation efforts that Congress isn't currently tackling, President Grant Spellmeyer told reporters Wednesday. Brian Hurley, the group's senior vice president of legal and regulatory affairs, said that given the priority that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has put on speeding up deployment, ACA expects to see action in 2026 coming out of the wireline proceeding.