Telecom carriers are under pressure from the FCC to end their diversity, equity and inclusion programs, with Chairman Brendan Carr saying last week that the FCC won’t bless mergers by companies that have DEI policies in place. Carr sent a warning letter Friday to Disney on its DEI programs. Industry officials say companies have no choice to comply, though the FCC moves have created regulatory uncertainty. T-Mobile explained in a letter to the FCC how it’s getting rid of DEI.
FCC commissioners on Thursday approved by 4-0 votes a notice of inquiry on alternatives to GPS, a Further NPRM on 911 wireless location accuracy and an FNPRM on next-generation 911. FCC officials said that while the GPS item saw some tweaks that reflect outreach to the commission (see 2503240043), there were no significant changes to the 911-related items.
Verizon Chief Revenue Officer Frank Boulben warned Wednesday that the carrier had a rocky start to 2025 in subscriber churn. Speaking at a New Street financial conference, Boulben said Verizon ended its holiday promotions in January, as it does every year. “For the first time, certainly since I've been with Verizon, our competitors didn't follow,” he said. AT&T and T-Mobile buyout promotions “have been particularly aggressive,” he said. “We've seen a lot of switching activity as a result.”
Trent McCotter, the lawyer for Consumers’ Research, faced tough questions during lengthy oral arguments Wednesday at the U.S. Supreme Court on the group’s challenge of the USF contribution factor and the USF in general. Sarah Harris, acting U.S. solicitor general, vigorously defended the USF on behalf of the government. Paul Clement of Clement & Murphy, a high-profile conservative appellate lawyer, represented industry defenders of the USF.
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson defended President Donald Trump's firing of the commission’s two Democrats during a speech at the Free State Foundation conference Tuesday. Ferguson also espoused a theory on executive power that the president may remove commissioners and install supporters on what Trump has termed “so-called” independent commissions. When Americans choose a president, “we are electing the person who is going to be able to supervise the entire government, not parts of the government,” Ferguson said.
On the eve of a key U.S. Supreme Court case concerning the USF's future, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said questions remain about the program's survival. How USF is paid for has to change, Carr told a Free State Foundation conference Tuesday. He also said he supports President Donald Trump's dismissal of Democratic commissioners at the FTC.
Questions from judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit appeared particularly pointed Monday, aimed at T-Mobile lawyer Helgi Walker of Gibson Dunn, as the court heard the carrier’s challenge of an $80 million FCC fine for allegedly not safeguarding data on customers' real-time location (see 2502190029). T-Mobile was also fined $12.2 million for violations by Sprint, which it later acquired.
A few tweaks are expected to the two wireless items to come before FCC commissioners Thursday at their open meeting, said industry officials active in the proceedings. The items are a notice of inquiry about a wide range of possible alternatives to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) and a draft Further NPRM on 911 wireless location accuracy. The GPS NOI saw numerous ex parte filings seeking tweaks, with only CTIA seeking changes to the location accuracy notice.
Grain Management will buy all of T-Mobile's 800 MHz spectrum in exchange for cash and Grain's 600 MHz spectrum portfolio, the companies announced Thursday night. Grain confirmed it plans to make the spectrum available “to U.S. utilities to support mission-critical communications, improve grid resilience, and enhance emergency response capabilities.”
The recent Mobile World Congress came at “a critical juncture” for the wireless industry, said Prakash Sangam, principal of Tantra Analyst, during a Wireless Communications Alliance webinar Thursday. CTIA Chief Technology Officer Tom Sawanobori cited AI as another prominent theme at the GSMA's trade show in Barcelona earlier this month.