The FCC is demanding that Boomerang Wireless and Assist Wireless repay $1.18 million in what the agency says were overpayments for connected devices as part of the affordable connectivity program (ACP) and emergency broadband benefit (EBB) program. In a statement Tuesday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr called the companies "unscrupulous providers." Some companies saw the pandemic-era programs "as a target for overfilling and padded their reimbursement requests."
Nexstar said Tuesday it would join Sinclair in continuing to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live!, despite the show's return to ABC's lineup starting Tuesday night, while FCC Chairman Brendan Carr continued to insist on social media that he didn't cause Kimmel’s suspension.
The FCC's arguments that its pole attachment regulatory authority extends to utility-owned light poles are legally dubious and practically untenable, utilities said in comments this week in docket 17-84. Commissioners adopted a pole attachments NPRM at the agency's July meeting (see 2507280053), and utilities, as expected, voiced their opposition to the light-pole proposal (see 2508290003). The proceeding also saw no clear consensus about requiring attachers to deploy within 120 days of pole make-ready work being done.
Telecom providers largely welcomed FCC proposals to streamline the agency’s slamming and truth-in-billing rules, according to their responses to an NPRM that commissioners approved in July (see 2507240055). Consumer and public interest groups disagreed, calling for some protections to remain in place. Comments were due Monday and mostly posted Tuesday in docket 17-169.
In light of the streamlined earth station licensing requirements that the FCC adopted in August (see 2508070037), its Space Bureau gave guidance Monday on adding a point of communication for an earth station license. In a public notice in docket 22-411, the bureau explained how licensees should identify that they're filing to add a point of communication, how pending applications can use the new procedures, and the form of content of the notices to add a point of communication.
Spectrum and tech public policy groups are pressing the FCC to adopt new power limits on low earth orbit (LEO) satellites. In a letter Monday to Chairman Brendan Carr (docket 25-157), groups including Chamber of Progress, Digital First Project and the Computer & Communications Industry Association said new power limits would boost satellite capacity, lower prices for consumers and increase satellite competition. Current ITU rules are "outdated" and "badly lagging the pace of American innovation." In April, the FCC adopted an NPRM on spectrum sharing between LEOs and non-geostationary orbit satellites (see 2504280038).
Venturi Astrolab hopes to launch its lunar rover as soon as early December for a technology demonstration mission on the moon's surface. In an application filed Friday with the FCC Space Bureau, Astrolab said the mission carrying the rover is expected to launch between Dec. 4 and March 4. The rover will attach to an Astrobotic Technology lander as part of a NASA-funded mission, it said. The company will use the S and X bands for communications and a local 2.4 GHz support link for communications with the lander, it added.
The FCC should take a comprehensive look at the broadband market in its Telecom Act Section 706 reports to Congress, the National League of Cities said Tuesday. Reply comments on an August notice of inquiry are due Tuesday in docket 25-223. The league comments echo many others already filed in the initial round (see 2509090010).
The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe slammed the FCC’s approach to seeking tribal input on how the agency enforces National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act rules, according to a letter posted Monday in docket 25-217. Comments in the proceeding, due last week, showed tribes and states leading the opposition to proposals included in an August NPRM (see 2509190053), part of a broader Trump administration move to limit enforcement of environmental laws.
T-Mobile asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Monday to rehear en banc the August decision by a three-judge panel upholding the FCC’s data fines against it and Sprint, which it subsequently purchased (see 2508150044). The 2nd Circuit recently upheld a similar fine against Verizon, while the 5th Circuit rejected one against AT&T (see 2509100056).