FCC Chairman Brendan Carr signaled in a podcast interview posted Wednesday that the FCC could act against ABC and parent company Disney if they don't discipline late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over comments related to the political affiliation of the man arrested in the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. First Amendment attorneys told us that policing the speech of late-show monologues is outside FCC authority.

As communications evolves, NATO is “at the forefront” of trying to understand new technologies, “testing and experimenting” to see which are “the most impactful,” said Antonio Calderon, chief technology officer of the NATO Communications and Information Agency, during a Mobile World Live webinar Wednesday. Other speakers said 5G means new opportunities for business and government agencies, and companies are experimenting with private networks and network slicing.

The House Commerce Committee voted 50-1 Wednesday to advance a revised version of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-979), despite some members’ misgivings about including a shorter sunset period as a compromise with pro-automotive industry lawmakers. HR-979 and its Senate Commerce Committee-advanced companion, S-315, would require the Department of Transportation to mandate that future automobiles include AM radio technology, mostly affecting electric vehicles (see 2502100072). The bill’s supporters unsuccessfully tried to attach it to a December 2024 continuing resolution to extend federal appropriations (see Ref:2412180033]).

The spectrum that is likely to be used for a “Golden Dome” and other details remain unclear eight months into the second Trump presidency (see 2503100058), National Spectrum Consortium CEO Joe Kochan told reporters in a briefing Wednesday. Leaders of the consortium, which works with industry and the government on spectrum issues, also said reallocating the upper C band for 6G and moving to more dynamic sharing remain complicated, with no easy answers in sight.

Smaller ISPs and new entrants like North Carolina-based Ripple Fiber are finding ways to compete in a rapidly evolving broadband marketplace, CEO Greg Wilson said Wednesday during a Fiber Broadband Association webinar. While deployment remains costly, he said using data to strategically target markets and partnering with local communities are helping smaller providers overcome challenges.

Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.