The New York State Public Service Commission approved Verizon’s purchase of Frontier, it said in a news release and order Thursday. California's public utilities advocate endorsed the deal in a filing Wednesday.
Charter Communications and Cox Communications are justifying their planned $34.5 billion combination on flawed premises, a Public Knowledge-led group said in an FCC posting Tuesday (docket 25-233). PK, Communications Workers of America, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and the Center for Accessible Technology have petitioned to block Charter/Cox (see 2511190049), and the filing was a reply to the Charter and Cox response (see 2512050028)
California Public Utilities Commission Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth Fox is recommending that the CPUC approve Verizon's purchase of Frontier Communications, subject to an array of conditions, including state diversity, equity and inclusion requirements. The FCC signed off on the deal in May after Verizon committed to dropping DEI practices (see 505160024). FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has said the agency won't approve mergers at regulated entities that have "invidious" DEI practices (see 2502240073).
WISPA filed a letter at the FCC on Monday asking the agency not to move the citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) operations to another band or otherwise make major changes to the rules (see 2512050029). In other comments posted Monday in docket 17-258, wireless ISPs said they may be forced to shut down if the rules are changed.
VoIP providers in California have been getting State Board of Equalization notices about having to file annual property tax statements starting next year, which is what the cloud communications industry had hoped the FCC would prevent, telecom lawyer Jonathan Marashlian of Marashlian & Donahue wrote Friday. The tax development springs from the California Public Utilities Commission's 2024 decision reclassifying interconnected VoIP providers as “telephone corporations," he said. "Once the CPUC decided to regulate VoIP like legacy telephony, other state agencies quickly followed suit—and found new ways to tax VoIP providers," he said.
Wireless ISPs continue to urge the FCC not to relocate citizens broadband radio service operations from any portion of the 3.55-3.70 GHz band to another band. CBRS advocates have been pushing against any major change to the band. NCTA is encouraging service providers to file comments at the FCC opposing proposals to increase power levels (see 2511130037).
President Donald Trump signed off Thursday night on an executive order that directs NTIA to potentially curtail non-deployment funding from the $42.5 billion BEAD program for states that the Trump administration determines have overly burdensome AI laws (see 2512110068). The order is identical to a draft proposal that circulated in November (see 2511190069). Democratic lawmakers and BEAD supporters quickly disparaged Trump’s directive, which already faced potentially multiple legal challenges because it would preempt many state-level AI regulations.
NextNav has begun operating a 5G PNT (positioning, navigation and timing) network in Santa Clara County, California, said a news release Thursday. “Network operations of positioning, navigation and timing applications represent the next milestone toward commercial readiness and the mission to deliver a resilient complement to GPS,” the release said.
President Donald Trump signed off Thursday night on an executive order that would direct NTIA to potentially curtail non-deployment funding from the $42.5 billion BEAD program for states that the Trump administration determines have AI laws that are overly burdensome. Some estimates have found that $20 billion in BEAD funding qualifies as non-deployment money. Trump's order is identical to a draft proposal, circulated in November, that drew significant bipartisan opposition.
Netflix announced Friday an agreement to buy Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion after the latter company spins off Discovery Global, but the deal could face regulatory hurdles at the FTC or DOJ, and the combination has been criticized by lawmakers of both parties.