Expanded uplink allocations for non-geostationary orbit broadband in parts of the W band represent a serious interference risk to scientific and weather forecasting interests, including the Tomorrow Companies' own earth observation work, according to the satellite operator. In a docket 25-180 filing posted Friday, Tomorrow said data from the 90-92 GHz and 115-122 GHz passive bands is hugely important to weather prediction and storm structure analysis, and those measurements can't be done in another swath of spectrum. Low-level out-of-band emissions from NGSO uplinks could mimic natural atmospheric signals, it said. Tomorrow urged "strict, enforceable" limits on such emissions and "sufficient separation" between uplink allocations and passive science bands. The FCC adopted a Further NPRM in May asking about opening parts of the W band to satellite communications (see 2505280055).
YouTube has reached a carriage agreement with Fox that keeps its channels on YouTube TV, the Google subsidiary said last week. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr had put pressure on Google during the companies' negotiations (see 2508270014).
A long-stalled proceeding on the transfer of an FM translator station to convicted sex offender and Lake Broadcasting CEO Michael Rice has been terminated after Rice’s death in August, said an order Thursday from FCC Deputy Associate General Counsel Michael Janson. The proceeding dates back to a 2012 proposed sale of a Montgomery, Alabama, translator by Patrick Sullivan to Lake Broadcasting (see 1905310053). That deal was designated for hearing because Rice previously had licenses revoked for making misrepresentations to the FCC and because of his conviction for several child sex offenses in 1994.
CBS should release the transcript of an October 2023 60 Minutes interview with then-President Joe Biden and promptly install a bias ombudsman, said the Center for American Rights in an ex parte FCC filing last week. CAR pointed to a recent New York Times article in which former Paramount Global head Shari Redstone said Biden seemed drowsy during the interview with journalist Scott Pelley.
Representatives of the American Library Association met with FCC staffers on the group’s push for streamlined E-rate rules. The group said it discussed its proposals in the “Delete” and E-rate streamlining proceedings. The Trump administration “has made streamlining procurement a key priority and exceptions to competitive bidding for low-cost purchases are widely accepted and understood [as] part of responsible and cost-effective procurement,” said a filing Thursday in docket 02-6.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court’s recent decision upholding the FCC’s 2024 data breach notification rules (see 2508130068) will likely prove significant for regulated companies, lawyers at Davis Wright wrote in a blog post Thursday. “The most immediate implication is the introduction of yet another requirement to notify individuals and authorities of data breaches and other cybersecurity incidents.” As the dissent by Judge Richard Griffin noted, carriers are already “subject to multiple cyber incident reporting requirements at the federal level,” they said.
Global HF Net urged the FCC to approve a waiver allowing greater use of its public-coast station system by land-based parties. As the scope and size of emergencies has expanded “and the need for public safety-related communications has grown, the use of the HF system has become an increasingly important tool in the public safety communications tool-belt,” said a filing Thursday in docket 25-255. Other companies hope to use the spectrum for non-disaster communications, Global HF Net said.
The FCC is placing recent numbering resource utilization and forecast reports, as well as carrier-specific local number portability data from other providers, in the record as it examines AT&T’s proposed purchase of lower 700 MHz and 3.45 GHz licenses from UScellular, said a notice in Friday’s Daily Digest. The $1 billion deal was announced in November (see 2411070026). The “data may assist the Commission in assessing the competitive effects of the transaction” and is subject to a protective order, the notice said.
The FCC asked for comment by Sept. 12 on an application by Clear Rate Communications for authorization to obtain North American Numbering Plan phone numbers directly from the numbering administrator. The company is an interconnected VoIP provider that “intends to initially request numbers in Michigan,” said a notice last week in docket 25-128.
Comments are due Sept. 12, replies Sept. 19, on Vero Broadband’s proposed purchase of BendTel, a locally owned and operated telecom provider in central Oregon. Comments should be filed in docket 25-188, said a Friday notice from the FCC Wireline Bureau. Vero, a fiber-to-the-premises provider, announced plans to buy BendTel in June. The purchase “complements Vero's ongoing organic expansion in Central Oregon and establishes a key foothold in one of the fastest-growing markets in the Pacific Northwest,” the company said at the time.