USTelecom will warn the FCC in comments next week that while the benefits of IP interconnection are “clear and compelling,” moving to an all-IP world remains “a daunting task.” The existing regulatory framework for time-division multiplexing (TDM) interconnection “itself poses a significant barrier to IP interconnection and, more broadly, to the transition to an all-IP network,” said an early summary of the comments made available Friday.
The House Commerce Committee plans to mark up a trio of public safety bills Wednesday: Lulu’s Law (HR-2076), the Emergency Reporting Act (HR-5200) and Kari’s Law Reporting Act (HR-5201). The Communications Subcommittee cleared them Thursday on quick voice votes (see 2601150048). The House Commerce meeting will begin at 10:15 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn, the panel said Friday.
The FCC has expanded its role in national security enforcement by imposing a fine on Marlink over its non-U.S. employees' access to its domestic infrastructure and customer data (see 2601080025), Morgan Lewis lawyers blogged last week. They said companies in the U.S. telecommunications and information and communications technology and services sectors that have national security mitigation agreements will need to carefully review their compliance frameworks and make sure they're adhering to those obligations. The FCC's enforcement action "sets a strong precedent" that commitments under the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecommunications Services Sector "are not optional and will be actively monitored and enforced." It also shows that administrative and timing requirements in mitigation agreements are enforceable conditions, the lawyers added.
Close to two dozen providers notified the FCC last week about possibly or actually having fallen short of Rural Deployment Opportunity Fund (RDOF) deployments that were to be completed by the end of 2025. Several said pole attachment and permitting woes were the hold-up or cited delays tied to the fall 2025 federal government shutdown and changes to the BEAD program. The RDOF notifications involved locations in at least 28 different states.
The FCC closed out the comment cycle last week for an NPRM on proposed changes to wireless infrastructure rules, with support from industry and continuing opposition from RF safety advocates and many local government groups (see 2601150043). Reply comments were due Thursday (docket 25-276) in response to the item, which commissioners approved 3-0 in September (see 2511250075), and there were still no signs of agreement among the different sides.
Nexstar’s proposed $6.2 billion purchase of Tegna must be approved to stave off the “five-alarm fire” of competition from streaming and tech companies, Nexstar and Tegna said in a joint reply filing posted in docket 25-331 Friday. The FCC has authority to waive the national cap, they said, while all the entities objecting to the deal -- including Newsmax, Free Press and EchoStar -- lack standing to participate in the proceeding (see 2601020025).
The administration’s pro-5G, pro-business agenda may be about to clash with the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda of some of President Donald Trump's loyalists. As the FCC wraps up an NPRM on proposed changes to wireless infrastructure rules to make 5G deployments faster (see 2601160045), reports are emerging that Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is ramping up a study of the risks from cellphone radiation. The Food and Drug Administration has also taken down webpages saying that cellphones aren’t dangerous. The FCC didn't remove similar declarations on its website.
Astranis Space Technologies is seeking FCC Space Bureau approval to launch and operate a geostationary orbit satellite at 131 degrees west. In an application posted Wednesday, Astranis said the satellite would provide Ku- and Ka-band connectivity to consumers, governments and enterprises in North America.
At least two dozen companies are in various stages of in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing (ISAM) operations, but spectrum access represents a severe bottleneck that prevents them from launching and operating missions to their fullest potential, Stellar Frequencies said in an FCC filing posted Thursday. Stellar CEO Peter Dohm met with Space Bureau staffers and advised that NTIA should declare ISAM activity a space research service until ITU determines a new service definition for such activities. The company also said ISAM should have primary rights to the 13.25-13.4 GHz space research band, allowing for downlinks of spacecraft telemetry and mission payload data. In addition, Stellar called for greater access to the 2360-2390 MHz band, which is currently authorized for commercial space launch service to uplink telecommand operations.
The FCC should keep TV and FM ownership limits in place, said National Religious Broadcasters in a reply filing Thursday in docket 22-459. Increased ownership consolidation “would disproportionately harm independent, mission-driven broadcasters, who lack the scale, capital, and national infrastructure of large broadcast groups,” the group said. It would “reduce educational and public-interest programming, which depends on local commitment and community service, not commercial scale or national efficiencies.”