Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
Infrastructure companies need consistent rules on 811 and call-before-you-dig requirements, Common Ground Alliance President Sarah Magruder Lyle and other experts said Wednesday during a Broadband Breakfast webinar.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
States opposing the FCC’s July order implementing the Martha Wright-Reed Act of 2022 have shifted gears in part to challenge whether FCC decision-making is legitimate because of the false premise that the regulator is an independent agency. The order, which reduces calling rates for people in prisons while establishing interim rate caps for video calls (see 2407180039), is under appeal in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (24-8028).
Industry and public interest groups disagreed on a proposed California Public Utilities Commission decision that would set service quality standards for telecom. Their comments about the proposed decision, which Commissioner Darcie Houck wrote in April, were posted Monday (docket 22-03-016).
The outlook on what happens next on the Digital Equity Act (DEA) is uncertain after President Donald Trump said his administration won’t fund the program. Congress approved DEA in 2021 as part of a $1 trillion infrastructure package under former President Joe Biden. In a Truth Social post late Thursday, Trump said he's canceling DEA, which industry officials predicted will lead to inevitable legal challenges and months if not years of uncertainty.
House Democrats are raising conflict-of-interest questions regarding SpaceX and CEO Elon Musk. In a letter Tuesday to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro, the lawmakers said Musk's role as head of the Department of Governmental Efficiency conflicts with SpaceX's role as a government contractor, given the influence DOGE has over agencies' contracts and contract bids. They said there's also a conflict of interest regarding DOGE's influence over regulators that oversee SpaceX. They called for a probe of whether SpaceX has received or could get special treatment due to Musk's role in the Trump administration. There also are questions about whether SpaceX used offshore accounts to mask the identities of Chinese investors, the lawmakers said.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told us in recent days that negotiations on potential compromise spectrum legislative language for a budget reconciliation package remain in flux. They emphasized it's still uncertain there will be a deal to obligate an airwaves pipeline as part of the measure. Their comments contrasted with the optimism that Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., voiced in recent interviews about the prospects of a spectrum deal that would satisfy pro-DOD legislators, who have resisted reallocating military-controlled midband airwaves.
The California Assembly Committee on Communications moved forward a bill that would require ISPs operating in the state to offer affordable broadband to consumers. The committee voted 7-2 on Wednesday in favor of the bill, AB-353, with state Assemblymember Blanca Rubio (D) not voting. Assemblymember Tasha Boerner (D) introduced the bill in January (see 2502040033). If passed, ISPs would be required to cap such plans at $15 per month, with taxes and fees included.