FCC Chairman Brendan Carr urged the commission’s World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee (WAC) on Thursday to find consensus as quickly as possible, on as many issues as possible, at the group’s first meeting since April. The WRC will meet in China next year, and Carr urged the WAC to move forward consistent with the Trump administration’s “America first” agenda.

The FCC heard this week from the aviation industry, broadcasters, satellite operators and others concerned about what an upper C-band auction will mean for them. Wireless industry filings also pressed the agency to make as much spectrum as possible available in the auction, which is expected in mid-2027. Reply comments on the auction NPRM were due Wednesday in docket 25-59.

Satellite and wireless interests are at odds over how best to allow more earth station use of the upper microwave flexible-use service (UMFUS) bands, with the former pushing for a new licensing framework for the bands and the latter urging reliance on commercial agreements. An NPRM adopted in October asks about voluntary agreements between UMFUS and fixed-satellite service (FSS) operators as a route to more intensive use of the UMFUS bands (see 2510280024).

The FCC's proposed revamp of its satellite and earth station licensing rules is welcome, but it won't make licensing that much easier unless there are also changes to coordination in shared federal and nonfederal spectrum bands, space industry interests said in reply comments due this week (docket 25-306). The commissioners unanimously adopted a space modernization NPRM in October (see 2510280024), and initial comments last month about the proposed Part 100 rules included numerous calls for edits and tweaks (see 2601210013).