FCC Chairman Brendan Carr this week circulated revised incarcerated people's communications services (IPCS) rules that could drive up the price of calls by as much as 80% or more, said industry officials engaged in the proceeding. In interviews Thursday, they also questioned how they can even raise concerns ahead of the Oct. 28 open meeting, given the federal government’s partial shutdown.
DOJ and the FCC asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that rejected a $57 million FCC fine against AT&T for violating the agency's data protection rules. The 5th Circuit ruled in April that the fine was unconstitutional because it denied AT&T's Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial. The 2nd Circuit later upheld a similar fine against Verizon, while the D.C. Circuit upheld one against T-Mobile (see 2509100056).
Broadcast standards association ATSC is “encouraged” by the FCC’s draft ATSC 3.0 NPRM, President Madeleine Noland said in an emailed statement Wednesday. “While we’re going through the many questions raised by the FCC in its draft document, ATSC believes it's good that conversations are underway and that the next phase of the transition is about to begin.” Moving to 3.0 will “allow broadcasters to enhance their ties to local viewers, with the capability to enhance emergency messages” and “improve accessibility for viewers.” The group doesn’t “advocate for specific positions” on what should happen with the transition, she added.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) this week signed into law AB-1303, which prohibits the state's Public Utilities Commission and Lifeline program from sharing the immigration status of FCC Lifeline applicants or subscribers with other government entities without a valid subpoena or warrant (see 2509170065).
Boost Mobile founder Peter Adderton is urging the federal government to tax the money that EchoStar makes from its AT&T and SpaceX spectrum deals. "Fund a new [Affordable Connectivity Plan] for those who really need help," Adderton posted Wednesday on X. "Stop spectrum hoarding. It's only fair." Adderton tagged FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Gail Slater in the post, saying they "must make sure consumers don't lose while EchoStar profits from failing to build the 4th network." Boost Mobile parent EchoStar has dropped plans for its own terrestrial mobile network and plans to sell much of its spectrum holdings to SpaceX and AT&T (see 2509150003).
The Senate Commerce Committee postponed a planned markup session Wednesday (see 2510020046) that would have included a vote on the Foreign Robocall Elimination Act (S-2666), a panel spokesperson said. The committee plans “shortly” to reschedule the meeting, which would have immediately preceded a hearing on Biden administration interactions with social media companies. Democrats used that hearing as a forum to again criticize FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for his mid-September threats against ABC and parent Disney before the network temporarily pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air (see 2510080049).
U.S. arguments that spectrum licenses don't confer property rights protected by the Fifth Amendment undermine wireless providers' reliance on those licenses and could chill investment, according to USTelecom. In an amicus brief filed this week with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (docket 25-1792), USTelecom said that if spectrum licenses don't confer any protected property right, a federal agency could unilaterally override a wireless provider's right to use spectrum without triggering a right to compensation. The same goes for other authorized use of public assets, including federal lands, it said. "That theory is breathtakingly broad -- and it cannot be right."
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr didn’t testify during Wednesday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Biden administration social media censorship actions, but many Democrats continued to deride him throughout the meeting for his mid-September comments against ABC and parent Disney, which were widely perceived as influencing the network’s since-reversed decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air (see 2509180055). Meanwhile, First Amendment attorneys and academics said during an American Enterprise Institute event Wednesday that Carr’s actions have been more blatant than past FCC regulations against broadcasters and other licensees.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded NAB a $744,000 contract to field test the Broadcast Positioning System (BPS) with Dominion Energy, NAB said in a news release Monday. BPS is based on ATSC 3.0 broadcasts' creation of a precise timestamp for the emission of each broadcast frame, which, along with the location of multiple ATSC 3.0 transmitters in a given area, can be used to calculate a position comparable in accuracy to GPS. “This first-of-its-kind field test is part of the federal government’s broader effort to develop resilient alternatives to GPS for position, navigation and timing services,” NAB's release said. The field test will take place in the Washington/Baltimore area, an industry official told us.
The government shutdown that has largely suspended FCC activity (see 2510010065) continued into Tuesday with no clear consensus in sight. The Senate failed again Monday to reach the 60-vote cloture threshold on dueling GOP and Democratic continuing resolutions to temporarily restore federal appropriations. It voted 52-42 on Republicans’ House-passed CR (HR-5371) to reopen the government through Nov. 21, with only three Democrats in support. The Senate also voted 45-50 on Democrats’ CR (S-2882), which would restore federal appropriations through Oct. 31 and bring back CPB’s rescinded $535 million funding for FY 2026.