FCC commissioners on Wednesday unanimously approved an NPRM aimed at reducing unwanted AI robocalls, as expected (see 2408050029). Commissioner Nathan Simington raised concerns about part of the notice, with which he would only concur. Responding to concerns that Incompas and Cloud Communications Alliance raised, officials said some questions were moved to a notice of inquiry. Commissioners during their open meeting approved 5-0 a pair of other items (see 2408070047).
Amazon's Kuiper continues to lobby the 10th floor, urging the FCC to wrap up its proceeding on spectrum sharing among earlier and later round non-geostationary orbit satellite systems. In a docket 21-456 filing posted Tuesday, it recapped a meeting with Commissioner Anna Gomez. Amazon previously discussed the same issue with Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington (see 2408020034).
Intelsat reiterated its call for phasing in the regulatory fee hike FCC Space Bureau payers are facing. It met with Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's office, according to a filing posted Tuesday in docket 24-85. The company similarly has lobbied the office of Commissioner Anna Gomez (see 2408020039).
Albedo Space Corp.'s pending application to deploy and operate an earth observation satellite lacks the required materials, the FCC Space Bureau said Monday in a dismissal. It said the dismissal was without prejudice to refiling. Albedo didn't comment Tuesday.
The full FCC unanimously granted low-power FM licensee Park Public Radio’s appeal of a Media Bureau decision rejecting the company's modification application in part for being filed a few hours too early, an order released Tuesday said. The item was slated for Wednesday’s open meeting but listed as an “adjudicatory item” on the agenda. The matter concerns Park’s March 3, 2021, application to modify KPPS-LP, St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Its modification would have interfered with another station that was silent for a year and had a license that expired at 3 a.m. the next day, April 1. Another licensee, Central Baptist Theological Seminary of Minneapolis, filed a conflicting application to modify its translator at 9 a.m. on April 1. The Media Bureau originally rejected the Park application and granted Central Baptist's because the silent station’s license hadn’t yet expired when Park filed and the application had short spacing defects. The full FCC ruled that Central Baptist's and Park’s filings were premature, and should have been filed after the MB issued a public notice announcing cancelation of the silent station’s license. The FCC also ruled that the Media Bureau should have allowed Park to amend its defective application. In the past, the agency has acknowledged that previously filed defective modification applications could, if corrected, prevail over later filed nondefective applications, the order said. The order rescinds the grant to Central Baptist and maintains the dismissal of the Park application but allows Park to refile an amended application.
Forty-four Florida and twenty-seven South Carolina counties remain in the disaster area of Tropical Storm Debby, the FCC said in Tuesday’s disaster information reporting system report (see 2408050040). The alert encompasses Tampa, Tallahasee, Jacksonville and Charleston. No public safety answering points were reported as down. In the affected counties, .9% of Florida and .4% of South Carolina cellsites were reported down, a slight improvement from Monday, and 22,422 cable and wireline subscribers are without service, a large improvement from 82,858 Monday. One Florida TV station and one FM station were reported down, along with one FM station redirected. Monday’s report listed two TV stations down.
While a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling rejecting the FCC’s USF contribution methodology calls the entire USF into question, it also offers an “opportunity” for change, Joe Kane, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation director-broadband and spectrum policy, blogged Tuesday. Some experts say the case is likely headed for U.S. Supreme Court review (see 2407260044). “For years, policymakers have acknowledged the need to overhaul the USF because of its ballooning fees, potential for waste, and outdated priorities,” Kane said in a Broadband Breakfast blog: “Now, with its legal foundation in question, Congress has a clear mandate to reallocate funding to vital broadband programs like the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), while eliminating outdated and redundant initiatives.”
SpaceX filed a report at the FCC that found high-power mobile use of the 13 GHz band would cause harmful out-of-band interference to its customers in three metropolitan areas studied up to 83.2% of the time. It would cause harmful blocking interference up to 76.8% of the time, the study said. “Either type of interference would crush SpaceX’s service for these consumers and businesses, and they both occur simultaneously,” a filing posted Tuesday in docket 22-352 said. SpaceX has directed most of its wrath at the lower 12 GHz band, which is being studied for fixed-wireless use (see 2407030061). Carriers see the band's upper part as a candidate for 5G, and eventually 6G, based on comments in response to an FCC NPRM (see 2308140046). The record “shows that the upper 12 GHz band is not a priority for the mobile industry, which has asked the Commission to focus instead on frequency bands in the mobile spectrum pipeline,” SpaceX said: No carrier “has made an actual technical proposal” to use the band. “Any high-power mobile service in the upper 12 GHz band threatens to do as much damage to American satellite customers as [Dish Network’s] deeply flawed plea for terrestrial service in the lower 12 GHz band.”
Before the FCC takes further action on supplemental coverage from space (SCS) issues, the agency should consider seeking additional public comment, Apple said in docket 23-65 filing, posted Tuesday. Areas needing more input include carrier/satellite operators' interconnectivity, including plans that rely on industry standards and support legacy devices, the filing said. A further inquiry or rulemaking would help ensure that neither future SCS service deployments nor new regulations would negatively affect features or performance, it said. Additional proceedings wouldn't be an obstacle for parties providing satellite-enabled services under the current rules. In addition, Apple, in the filing, explained how iPhone 14 and 15 traffic gets routed in its emergency SOS messaging partnership with Globalstar.
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology and Wireless Bureau sought comment Tuesday on a NextNav proposal that the agency reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band “to enable a high-quality, terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing services (see 2404160043). Comments are due Sept. 5, replies Sept. 20, in docket 24-240. NextNav asked that the commission reconfigure the lower 900 MHz band by creating a 5-MHz uplink in the 902-907 MHz band paired with a 10-MHz downlink in the 918-928 MHz band, shifting remaining non-multilateration location and monitoring service (M-LMS) licensees to the 907-918 MHz part of the band, the notice said: “NextNav proposes a spectrum ‘swap’ to trade in its current M-LMS holdings for a single, nationwide 15-megahertz flexible use license pursuant to the new band plan.” The agency said some 1,500 active non-M-LMS licenses are in the band. The FCC seeks comment “on all aspects" of the NextNav petition, “including its associated costs and benefits,” the notice said. “We seek to develop a robust record and welcome comment on additional related issues that commenters may identify.” The notice is “an important next step in delivering an innovative spectrum solution in the Lower 900 MHz band,” NextNav CEO Mariam Sorond said. “Providing a complement and backup to GPS is critical for safeguarding things we need daily -- from location mapping and tracking services to serving as an important tool for locating emergency callers to addressing critical infrastructure and national security needs.”