Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., remain opposed to the Kids Online Safety Act, which is preventing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., from moving the bill by unanimous consent (see 2406200053).
Satellite operators and broadcasters want the FCC to phase in Space Bureau regulatory fee increases, expand the payor base and maintain COVID-19 pandemic regulatory fee relief measures, according to comments filed by Monday's deadline in docket 12-108. Satellite interests repeatedly warned of fee shock, particularly as the FCC proposes big jumps in fees to cover costs associated with last year’s creation of the bureau (see 2304110002). The agency should “maximize fairness in the payment process” by continuing “the availability of the extraordinary relief measures for financially distressed regulatees,” a joint filing from state broadcast associations said.
Don't expect big changes in the next-generation 911 draft order that's set for a vote during the FCC commissioners' open meeting Thursday, a 10th-floor official tells us. While the order should help facilitate the NG911 transition, a quicker route would come if Congress found the roughly $15 billion that states and localities likely need for deployment, said Jonathan Gilad, National Emergency Number Association (NENA) government affairs director. Minus federal funding, "it will always be a haves and have-nots situation," with some localities and states more financially able than others to afford the transition, he said. The FCC said the order is aimed at accelerating the NG911 rollout (see 2406270068).
An FCC proposed handset unlocking NPRM will likely receive unanimous approval at the commissioners' open meeting Thursday, probably with minimum tweaks, lawyers and others in the proceeding told us. Currently, among the national carriers, only Verizon is subject to broad unlocking requirements, though T-Mobile faces some owing to its Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile acquisition. The notice proposes all mobile providers unlock a consumer’s handset 60 days after it's activated.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- State utility commissioners at the NARUC conference grappled Tuesday with the U.S. Supreme Court reversal of the Chevron doctrine. Loper Bright, “though not framed as a federalist decision," has "modest pro-state implications,” Wilkinson Barker’s Daniel Kahn said during a panel of telecom law experts. Earlier, an NTCA official told the NARUC Telecom Committee that his association plans to seek reconsideration of an FCC order on next-generation 911 if commissioners approve it at their Thursday meeting.
FCC commissioners will vote at their Aug. 7 open meeting on an NPRM that delves more deeply into consumer protections against AI-generated robocalls, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Tuesday. In addition, commissioners will vote on an emergency alert system code for missing and endangered persons and procedural updates to the robocall database. Commissioners will also vote on an adjudicatory matter from the Media Bureau and an Enforcement Bureau item.
The FCC deactivated its disaster information reporting system (DIRS) for Hurricane Beryl at Texas' request, the agency announced Sunday. Communications providers will no longer need to report the status of cellular networks in DIRS in connection with this event. The FCC said it will continue monitoring the status of communications services and work with providers and government partners to support remaining restoration efforts in the area. The Mandatory Disaster Response Initiative remains in effect for the areas of Texas that Hurricane Beryl struck when it reached land July 8.
The FCC and Department of Education will hold a webinar July 23 to provide information on the three-year, $200 million cybersecurity pilot program for schools and libraries that commissioners approved 3-2 in June (see 2406060043). The webinar starts at 2 p.m. EDT and also offers information on “other federal cybersecurity resources available to schools and libraries,” a Monday notice from the Wireline Bureau said.
The 12-month compliance timeline in the FCC's draft next-generation 911 order might be insufficient for smaller providers, according to the Competitive Carriers Association. The order is part of the FCC's July agenda (see 2406260058). In a docket 18-64 filing Monday recapping meetings with the offices of Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr, CCA said non-nationwide commercial mobile radio service providers should have at least 18 months for each phase of the NG911 transition following a request from a 911 authority, rather than 12 months. It urged the FCC to clarify that it will consider waiver requests from non-nationwide CMRS providers in completing connections. In addition, it asked the FCC to clarify that when a provider falls into two categories for the purposes of compliance time frames, the longer compliance time frame applies.
Tango Networks, a wireless provider with operations in the U.S. and other nations, urged that the FCC take an aggressive approach on handset unlocking requirements proposed in an NPRM. The NPRM is set for a vote on Thursday (see 2406270068). Applying proposed changes to existing contracts “would provide immediate benefit" for consumers "with little impact to the service providers holding those contracts,” Tango said in a filing last week in docket 24-186. Service providers in other countries and Verizon Wireless “have proven that long term device locking is not required to prevent fraud.” Tango also said increasing the number of unlocked devices on the secondary market “would enable businesses to provide mobile service to a greater number of their employees.” Tango noted it also has operations in other countries in North America and Europe.