NTIA will release in “coming weeks” the first notice of funding for the $1.5 billion federal fund to spur the growth open radio access networks, said Amanda Toman, new lead of NTIA’s Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund, Thursday at the Winnik Forum at Hogan Lovells. Under the Chips and Science Act, which created the fund, NTIA is required to make initial grants by Aug. 8, she noted.Read More >>

A draft NPRM on circulation on the FCC’s 10th floor would seek comment on the agency’s implementation of the Low Power Protection Act but also asks for feedback on an LPTV-backed proposal to replace the FCC’s use of Nielsen designated market areas with a population based system, FCC officials told us. Despite being included in the draft NPRM, the DMA proposal isn’t seen as having much traction at the agency: the Media Bureau said last year there's no viable alternative to Nielsen. The NPRM isn’t considered controversial and is expected to be unanimously approved. The FCC uses a census-based system for cellphones and should therefore be able to use it for television, said LPTV Broadcasters Association President Frank Copsidas in an interview: “What is so complicated?”Read More >>

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Consumers' Research's challenge of the FCC's method for funding the USF under the nondelegation doctrine, in a ruling Friday (see 2212060070). The FCC "has not violated the private nondelegation doctrine because it wholly subordinates" the Universal Service Administrative Co., the court said, noting Congress "supplied the FCC with intelligible principles when it tasked the agency with overseeing" USF.Read More >>

The House Commerce Committee voted 50-0 Thursday to advance the Spectrum Coordination Act (HR-1341), one of several bills lobbyists think are likely to become a part of a spectrum policy legislative package lawmakers hope to enact later this year. Congressional leaders are trying to temporarily restore the FCC’s lapsed spectrum auction authority in hopes of giving negotiators more time to reach a deal (see 2303220077). Some top military officials, meanwhile, are breaking ranks with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in the debate over repurposing parts of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band for commercial use, which has been a major hurdle in reaching a legislative compromise.Read More >>

Some states have fairly sharp pencils for estimated awards from NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD), but others are working with wide ranges. States were mixed on whether it's challenging to plan their broadband programs without knowing the award amount. NTIA is expected to make funding allocation announcements June 30.Read More >>

Montana should reject a social media bill that mirrors a content moderation law in Texas, which the U.S. Supreme Court is likely to rule unconstitutional, tech industry officials told Montana’s Senate Business Committee during a hearing Friday.Read More >>

UPM “fraudulently tapped” into its roaming agreements with U.S. mobile carriers, “surreptitiously routing calls to Digicel Haiti’s home network from third parties who are not Digicel Haiti customers,” Digicel Haiti said, responding to UPM’s Feb. 21 complaint alleging it violated the Communications Act by banning resale of UPM’s telecommunications service (see 2302270073). Its answer was posted Friday (docket 23-64) at the FCC Enforcement Bureau.Read More >>

Senate leaders acknowledged they’re beginning to consider using floor time to pass the House-approved bill to renew the FCC’s spectrum auction authority through May 19 (HR-1108) in case they can’t reach a deal with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., that would…Read More >>