In a win for Verizon, the FCC Wireless Bureau absolved the carrier Monday of requirements that it has faced since 2008 to unlock the handsets of subscribers, showing the agency's complete turnaround on the issue under Chairman Brendan Carr. The action was taken by the bureau without a commissioner vote and initially announced by Carr on X.
SES continues to lobby FCC leadership to keep the existing equivalent power flux density (EPFD) power limits on non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellites. In a filing posted Friday in docket 25-157 to recap a meeting with FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty, SES reiterated its arguments that its EPFD concerns "are not hypothetical" (see 2511210024), as it took more than a year to isolate and resolve harmful interference from an NGSO system operating well in excess of the EPFD limits.
Argo Space is aiming to launch its Navigator reusable spacecraft in March, according to an FCC Space Bureau application Friday. The California-based startup asked for authorization for a prototype mission intended to verify Navigator's performance in low earth orbit and conduct maneuvers in medium earth orbit. Navigator is designed for in-space transportation and will use S-band frequencies for telemetry, tracking and control, Argo added.
Arguments that the FCC lacks authority to adjust or eliminate the national TV station audience reach cap ignore that the statutory text and its history show otherwise, Digital Progress Institute President Joel Thayer said in a filing posted Friday in docket 17-318. The FCC itself, not the Communications Act, created the broadcast-ownership cap, and the agency has repeatedly revised it, he said. Congress' 2004 change to the cap didn't freeze it in place, the filing noted -- it only instructed the FCC to adjust an existing regulatory framework.
The U.K.’s Office of Communications (Ofcom) announced Friday that it has decided to allow the use of outdoor and higher-power Wi-Fi devices in the lower 6 GHz band, provided that they're controlled by an automated frequency coordination system. Ofcom also said it plans to award mobile licenses in “high density” areas of the U.K. in the upper band. While it's a more constrained approach than the U.S., where all 1,200 MHz of the band is available for unlicensed use, Wi-Fi advocates told us that Ofcom’s policy calls were a victory for their side.
Somos got pushback in comments posted last week on its September petition asking the FCC to make changes to how phone numbers are assigned and move away from its legacy systems to an IP world. The petition came as the agency shut down the North American Numbering Council (see 2506240074).
EchoStar and SpaceX arguments that the FCC has no role in contract disputes over EchoStar's now-aborted terrestrial wireless buildout plans ignore the fact that the companies are citing agency action as the reason for those plans' demise, said critics of the EchoStar/SpaceX spectrum deal in reply comments last week. Wireless infrastructure interests have urged the commission not to approve SpaceX's purchase of EchoStar terrestrial spectrum licenses until the latter company commits to fulfilling contracts related to its wireless buildout (see 2512160006).
AST SpaceMobile is seeking FCC Space Bureau approval to add international S-band frequencies to its planned 248-satellite constellation. In an application posted Wednesday, AST said it wants to use the 1980-2025 MHz and 2160-2200 MHz frequencies outside the U.S. for mobile broadband connectivity. The S-band spectrum would let the company "provide higher capacity, space-based mobile broadband services to international users" and better compete with Chinese internet connectivity. The international S band is already included in AST's ITU filing, it said, and much of the band is underutilized.
Congress, federal agencies and the courts should act to rein in “Big Tech” before broadcast media and other industries and institutions are “damaged beyond recognition or repair,” wrote former FCC aide Adonis Hoffman in an op-ed Thursday for The Hill, which is owned by broadcaster Nexstar. While lawmakers and regulators “dither,” the large tech companies “that control access to customers, paychecks and audiences continue to expand their reach without meaningful restraint.”
The Q3 2025 inflation adjustment figure for cable operators using Form 1240 is 3.76%, said the FCC Media Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics in Thursday's Daily Digest. In the year-ago quarter, it was 1.94%.