Many of the bands highlighted in the Dec. 19 presidential memo on spectrum for 6G will likely take years to bring to auction, but that may be all right with carriers, who will face two auctions in the next two years, industry officials told us.
Conservatives such as Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, have suggested eliminating the FCC’s public interest authority (see 2512170070) as a way to keep it from pressuring broadcasters over their content, but public interest attorneys and academics said doing so would also strip the agency of most of its power.
The public narrative around the deal for Warner Bros. Discovery could affect the FCC’s consideration of Nexstar/Tegna, said New Street analyst Blair Levin in an email to subscribers Wednesday. The FCC “will likely make its decision on the broadcast deal after months in which the media is discussing the reasons for, and potential dangers of, media consolidation in the context of the battle over [Warner Bros. Discovery]," Levin wrote. If the White House signals that it would approve of Skydance Paramount or Netflix buying WBD, it would make the administration acting to block the much smaller Nexstar/Tegna deal appear hypocritical, he said. That issue is amplified if the Trump administration favors Paramount because “it is hard to see why you think an owner of [a] broadcast network should be allowed to consolidate assets in the streaming, studio, and cable network markets but broadcasters cannot bulk up within the broadcast market,” Levin wrote. He said that recent comments by Trump against relaxing the national TV ownership cap and slamming Nexstar’s NewsNation programming don’t make it less likely that the FCC will act on the cap “though we acknowledge that the President might cause us to reconsider our views if [Nexstar], for example, runs a news segment he does not like.”
President Donald Trump again said that networks should lose their “licenses” because of unfavorable coverage of his administration. In a post on Truth Social Wednesday, Trump also said that CBS should put late night host Stephen Colbert to sleep and also slammed late shows on ABC and NBC. “If Network NEWSCASTS, and their Late Night Shows, are almost 100% Negative to President Donald J. Trump, MAGA, and the Republican Party, shouldn’t their very valuable Broadcast Licenses be terminated? I say, YES!” wrote Trump at 12:36 a.m. on Wednesday. The FCC doesn't license television networks. Trump posted about Colbert and other late-night shows at around the same time. “Stephen Colbert is a pathetic trainwreck, with no talent or anything else necessary for show business success. Now, after being terminated by CBS, but left out to dry, he has actually gotten worse, along with his nonexistent ratings,” Trump said. “CBS should, ‘put him to sleep,’ NOW, it is the humanitarian thing to do!” David Ellison, owner of CBS parent Skydance Paramount, is attempting to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, and has argued that his family’s favorable relationship with the White House would ease regulatory approval for such a deal. Earlier this week, CBS’s flagship news show 60 Minutes pulled a segment unfavorable to the administration at the last minute (see 2512220028). After slamming Colbert Wednesday morning, Trump also panned the other network late shows. “Who has the worst Late Night host, CBS, ABC, or NBC??? They all have three things in common: High Salaries, No Talent, REALLY LOW RATINGS!” Trump wrote.
The FCC's revoking California's waiver from using the National Lifeline Accountability Database (NLAD) and federal eligibility determination will ultimately hurt the 1.77 million Californians receiving federal Lifeline support, the California Public Utilities Commission said. In a docket 11-42 filing Tuesday, the CPUC said the FCC's move also will hurt the 39 Lifeline providers designated as eligible telecommunications carriers serving those Californians. The FCC in November stopped the state from doing its own Lifeline subscriber verifications (see 2511200031).
Joshua Levine, manager for tech policy at the Foundation for American Innovation, said on X this week that the FCC’s announcement this week that drones and drone components have been added to the agency’s “covered list” (see 2512220036) is “big news that has long been rumored.” The FCC move “likely will have implications for future use of the Covered List against other firms tied to adversaries,” Levine wrote. The threat from Chinese drone maker DJI “has long been known,” he said.
The FCC continues to receive dozens of short filings on a daily basis opposing changes in a wireless infrastructure NPRM that commissioners approved at September's meeting (see 2511250075). The FCC has logged nearly 2,300 comments as of Wednesday in docket 25-276. Most list the commenter's name with no other identifying information.
The FCC has signed off on modifying the cable landing license for the Hawaiki Submarine Cable System to authorize a new branch stretching to Vava’u, Tonga, according to a notation this week in the agency's International Communications Filing System. BW Group's Hawaiki system began operation in 2018 and connects Sydney, Australia; Mangawhai Heads, New Zealand; Tafuna, American Samoa; Kapolei, Oahu, Hawaii; and Pacific City, Oregon. BW said the Tonga branch is expected to be operational in the first half of 2026.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions. New cases are marked with an *.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department voiced concerns in comments filed this week in docket 13-111 about the FCC’s proposal to allow signal jammers in correction facilities. Other law enforcement interests supported the use of jammers. FCC commissioners approved 3-0 in September a Further NPRM seeking comment on whether correctional facilities should be allowed to jam cell signals, with an eye on curbing contraband phones (see 2509300063).