UScellular CEO Laurent Therivel met with FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and agency staff to make the case for T-Mobile’s proposed buy of “substantially all” of his company’s wireless operations, including some spectrum (see 2405280047), a deal announced in May. Therivel and others company officials also met with Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington, aides to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and top officials in the Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics, said a filing posted Friday in docket 24-286. By total handset connections nationwide, UScellular is “the seventh-largest wireless provider and accounts for approximately one percent of connections,” the filing said. Competitive pressures are ramping up in its markets, and it’s losing subscribers “despite deploying a variety of strategies to attempt to arrest that decline,” the carrier said: “Subscriber losses accelerated in 2022, a year that UScellular invested heavily on promotions. UScellular anticipates that it will continue to lose subscribers going forward.” It assumed “significant debt to purchase the mid-band spectrum needed to compete in 5G,” it said. “While UScellular has been pulling back on its network investments, its competitors have been spending more to expand their networks and enhance their network quality and customer experience in UScellular’s footprint.”
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated on Friday for a commissioner vote rules that would expand parts of the 6 GHz band where new very-low power (VLP) devices can operate without coordination, beyond the initial 850 MHz commissioners approved last year (see 2310190054). When the FCC took comment earlier this year, Wi-Fi advocates and 6 GHz incumbents disagreed sharply on whether to expand VLP use of the band (see 2404290035).
The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 4 agreed to hear a lawsuit brought by the Mexican government against a group of gun manufacturers and one gun distributor for their role in aiding the trafficking of guns into Mexico. The lawsuit accuses the gun makers of marketing, distributing, selling and designing guns in ways that knowingly arm Mexican drug cartels through corrupt gun dealers and illegal sales practices (Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, Sup. Ct. # 23-1141).
The U.S. is increasingly expecting companies to monitor government guidance as well as export violations committed by others, and to use those cases as “lessons learned” to improve their own compliance programs, lawyers said this week.
Cellular service in the areas affected by Hurricane Helene improved Wednesday, according to the FCC’s most recent Disaster Information Reporting service update. It showed 11.3% of the cell sites in all the affected counties down, an improvement from the 21.7% reported out of service in Tuesday’s update. The most affected state in the DIRS coverage area is North Carolina, with 38.3% of cell sites without service in its affected counties. There are 654,220 cable and wireline subscribers without service, as compared to 750,761 in the previous update. The DIRS update shows 6 TV stations out of service and 38 radio stations down across the affected areas. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel will visit Asheville and Charlotte, North Carolina, Friday "to gain a firsthand account of communications recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene," said a release Thursday. Rosenworcel is scheduled to meet with FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau staff deployed to North Carolina, visit a federal assistance center and an emergency operations center, and go to a local library that serves as a community Wi-Fi hub, the release said.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on Thursday appointed Ira Keltz acting chief engineer, leading the Office of Engineering and Technology. Keltz, an electrical engineer, replaces Ron Repasi, who left the agency last month (see 2409160032). Deputy chief of OET, Keltz has worked on spectrum policy issues at the agency for 30 years, the FCC said. Repasi replaced longtime OET Chief Julius Knapp, initially in an acting capacity, in late 2019.
It’s “unacceptable” for FTC Chair Lina Khan to appear at upcoming policy events and use her position to “campaign” for Vice President Kamala Harris, House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said Wednesday. The lawmaker cited a report about Khan’s upcoming appearance with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, at a policy event focused on “corporate power.” Khan is also reportedly set to appear at three other events with Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill.; Mark Pocan, D-Wis.; and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., in their respective states. Gallego is running for a Senate seat. Civil-service employees at federal agencies are prohibited from participating in political activity under the Hatch Act. Rodgers said Khan should “release her upcoming public schedule immediately. Using her position—at an independent agency—to campaign for @VP is unacceptable and furthers my serious concerns that the @FTC is heading in the wrong direction & losing independence.” The agency declined comment. Khan’s three-year term as chair expired on Sept. 25. Khan can remain in her position until she steps down or is replaced.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel considers fixed wireless access important to competition and 6G helping the wireless industry cope with growing data demands, she said in a recent interview with the San Francisco Examiner. “We’re going to see more activities in the [IoT], more monitoring of industrial equipment, opportunities for smarter cities and smarter services,” Rosenworcel said, adding that the business models are developing. 6G will help “when we get to a point where we’re capacity-constrained on 5G and need to start thinking about what new technologies can assist us with the new loads.” Fixed wireless “is providing some real competitive pressure on a lot of incumbent broadband providers today.” Asked if FWA is a “true alternative” to wired broadband, Rosenworcel said, “the numbers suggest it is” and “a lot of households are signing up.” She touched on some of her top priorities, including the importance of Congress renewing FCC auction authority. The FCC is trying to develop “a legal and social norm” for when AI is used in communications, she said: “You should expect to be told.” On the use of AI in political campaigns, she acknowledged that “there’s a whole world online that’s outside of our purview.” But “waiting for a law that’s perfect, that captures every platform and venue, is waiting too long,” she said. “When I look at the Communications Act, I see principles of competition, universal access, public safety and consumer protection,” Rosenworcel said: “Those values have stood the test of time. So how do we take this law and make sure it meets this moment?” Rosenworcel declined comment when asked whether she would stick around if Kamala Harris is elected president. “Let’s see how the election goes,” she said.
Cellular service in areas affected by Hurricane Helene worsened Tuesday, according to FCC outage reports, as communications companies and the FCC announced further relief efforts. Tuesday’s Disaster Information Reporting Service update showed 21.7% of cell sites down in the affected areas, an increase from the 9.1% reported Monday. Cable and wireline companies reported 796,999 subscribers without service, an improvement from the 886,139 Monday. The FCC voted Wednesday to temporarily waive some Lifeline program eligibility requirements to allow households receiving federal disaster assistance to also benefit from Lifeline assistance, said a release. "In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, our thoughts are with the communities that need to rebuild and the residents who have lost loved ones or are enduring the unbearable wait to hear from family members," said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in the release. The FCC Public Safety and Wireless Bureaus also announced Wednesday that regulatory filing deadline extensions would apply in the additional Hurricane areas, which include Tennessee, Virginia and parts of South Carolina. The extension -- which moves regulatory deadlines between Sept. 23 and Oct. 28 to Oct. 29 -- already applied to numerous counties in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The Wireline Bureau also partially waived telephone number aging rules to make it easier for customers affected by Helene to disconnect or restore their service. The waiver will allow service providers to temporarily disconnect the customers' telephone service to avoid billing issues and then reinstate the same numbers when service is reconnected, according to a public notice. SpaceX’s Starlink said on its website homepage Wednesday that it was making service free for the first month in areas affected by Helene. Spectrum said it committed $250,000 in cash contributions to hurricane relief efforts and opened nearly 90,000 out-of-home WiFi access points across affected states. The access points will be available to all users at no cost through Oct. 7, Spectrum said. The company is also offering $750,000 worth of public service announcements for free to charities assisting with hurricane relief. Sinclair Broadcast launched a fundraising partnership with the Salvation Army at sinclaircares.com and pledged to donate up to $50,000, Sinclair said.
Space sustainability advocates are pessimistic about the chances that the FCC will require environmental reviews for proposed satellites and constellations anytime soon. Such reviews were a central part of the International Dark-Sky Association's (ISDA) unsuccessful legal challenge of the FCC's approval of SpaceX's second-generation satellite constellation (see 2407120031). Last month, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) launched a letter-writing campaign urging environmental reviews of satellite mega constellations (see 2408280002).