Xplore hopes to launch its XCube-1 earth imaging satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare mission between October and the end of April, it told the FCC Space Bureau in an application posted Friday. Xplore said it plans a low earth orbit constellation that will offer remote sensing data products and edge computing using multiple payload computers, as well as payload hosting. It said XCube-1 will be its first commercial mission and use X-band downlinks.
Filings for mandatory disaster information reporting and network outage reporting systems would hinder broadcasters during disasters, NAB, Morgan Murphy Media and Beasley Media said in a meeting with Public Safety Bureau staff Wednesday. “Unlike other services, broadcast stations must report timely news and information about a disaster as a situation unfolds,” an ex parte filing posted in docket 21-346 Friday said: “Mandatory reporting would distract station staff from this core duty.” Commenters in the docket who support mandatory reporting for broadcasters “demonstrate a lack of real-world experience in dealing with emergencies or understanding of the competing demands on station staff during a disaster,” the filing said. The FCC’s suggestion that mandatory reporting would lead to more effective allocation of emergency resources doesn’t ring true, the broadcasters said. “With all due respect to emergency responders, filing a DIRS report has rarely, if ever, led to government assistance that helps a station maintain or restore service.”
DOJ and the FTC on Thursday will co-host the first public meeting for President Joe Biden’s Strike Force, a multiagency effort to crack down on unfair and illegal pricing. Launched in March, the Strike Force includes the FTC, DOJ and the FCC. The agencies are focused on issues like high internet costs, junk fees and competition issues. FTC Chair Lina Khan and DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Jonathan Kanter are scheduled to speak at the meeting.
The IOT security group ioXt Alliance urged the FCC to monitor closely fees the lead administrator charges cybersecurity label administrators (CLAs) as the commission takes comments on implementation of its voluntary cyber trust mark program. “There should be a neutral oversight committee” reviewing "the expenses a Lead Admin would incur and guide a decision towards an appropriate amount to charge CLAs,” a filing posted Friday in docket 23-239 said: “This fee may be higher during the initial rollout of the program, but should be lowered in the following year(s) as there will not be a need for as much ‘set up’ costs.” The group warned “there is a unique opportunity for the Lead Admin to have an unfair economic advantage by charging fees to CLAs.” Comments are due Aug. 19, replies Sept. 3, on a July 18 notice from the Public Safety Bureau. FCC commissioners approved the program 5-0 in March (see 2403140034).
Garmin International defended its request for a waiver of FCC rules for handheld general mobile radio service (GMRS) devices limiting them to one transmission every 30 seconds (see 2310060031). Garmin proposes “digital data transmission parameters that, although different than the currently applicable rule, are more protective of GMRS voice communications,” a filing Thursday in docket 24-7 said. Relative to existing rules, “Garmin’s proposed parameters would drastically reduce the duration of each digital data transmission to provide more frequent -- but, in the aggregate, substantially shorter -- data transmissions,” Garmin said.
The FCC’s Technological Advisory Council will meet Aug. 29 at FCC headquarters, a Friday notice in the Federal Register said. The meeting starts at 10 a.m. TAC last met June 21.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling Wednesday against the FCC's Universal Service Fund contribution factor for the first quarter of 2022 will likely have little to no immediate impact on the commission's USF-funded programs and providers contributing to the fund, trade groups and legal experts told us (see 2407240043). It's uncertain how the U.S. Supreme Court would interpret conflicting rulings of the 5th, 6th and 11th circuits. Consumers' Research asked SCOTUS in a supplemental brief filed Thursday (docket 23-456) to grant rehearing as a result of the circuit split.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper possess the best telecom policy credentials among the main contenders to be the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee, broadband advocates and other policy observers told us. All the contenders hold broadly similar views to Vice President Kamala Harris on broadband and telecom policy matters, but could bring different perspectives to the ticket, experts said in interviews last week.
Omnispace’s Mindel De La Torre, former FCC international bureau chief, joins non-terrestrial network service provider Skylo Technologies as head-regulatory affairs ... Fox News Media names Katherine Meeks, previously Gibson, Dunn, as general counsel, effective Aug. 19; Bernard Gugar steps down as general counsel and executive vice president-corporate development ... Computer networking company Netgear appoints Pramod Badjate, ex-Arista Networks, as president-general manager-Netgear Business; Kirsten Daru, ex-Life360, as general counsel-chief privacy officer; Antonio Lopez Reus, ex-Amazon, as vice president-strategy and strategic partnerships; adds onXmaps’ Laura Orvidas to board; and promotes Fiona Spratt to senior vice president-people ... 5G mobile and fixed wireless solutions provider Inseego appoints Semtech’s David Markland as chief product officer and Dean Antonilli, as senior vice president-sales-service providers and names Sal Aroon, ex-Form, as vice president-head of operations.
Spire Global has plans for launching one of its Lemur-class earth observation satellites by early February on a SpaceX rideshare mission. In an FCC Space Bureau application posted Thursday seeking authorization for the Lemur mission, Spire said it would use the same frequencies and operating parameters as previously authorized Lemurs along with nonstandard imaging equipment that would make it larger than the other authorized Lemurs. The FCC in 2018 authorized Spire's Lemur constellation of up to 872 satellites.