President Donald Trump’s unprecedented firing of Democratic FTC Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter on Tuesday doesn’t necessarily mean FCC Democrats Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez are next, industry experts said. Starks has already announced plans to leave the agency this spring (see 2503180067). The two FTC Democrats have vowed to fight.
T-Mobile wants to sell hundreds of 800 MHz licenses to Grain Management, partially in exchange for 600 MHz spectrum. Grain, in turn, plans to work with utilities and others to deploy services on the 800 MHz spectrum.
CTIA sought extensive tweaks to a draft Further NPRM on 911 wireless location accuracy, set for a vote by the FCC on March 27 (see 2503060061). Representatives spoke with an aide to Chairman Brendan Carr. CTIA is the only party to file an ex parte in docket 07-114 since the FNPRM was circulated.
The FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council held its first meeting under new FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday, hearing updates on 6G and from its two other working groups. CSRIC last met in December (see 2412180041).
Lawyers for the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society were cautiously optimistic Wednesday that their side would prevail at the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the FCC and the USF contribution factor in FCC v. Consumers’ Research. But they also expect a divided decision. SCOTUS is to consider the case March 26.
T-Mobile provided additional answers to the FCC in response to questions posed in December about the carrier's buy of wireless assets from UScellular (see 2412270031). The companies announced in May an agreement where T-Mobile would purchase “substantially all” of the smaller carrier’s wireless operations, including some of its spectrum, in a deal valued at about $4.4 billion, including $2 billion in assumed debt (see 2405280047).
Experts warned Tuesday against a move to hold the next World Radiocommunication Conference in China. During a Technology Policy Institute spectrum webinar, they said holding the 2027 conference there could effectively limit U.S. participation as the world discusses the harmonization of 6G and satellite spectrum.
Ligado defended its proposal to reallocate the 1675-1680 MHz band for 5G, as it urged previously in 2019 (see 1905090041). The company filed reply comments posted Tuesday in docket 19-116. The FCC in January sought to refresh the record on the future of the band for shared use between federal incumbents and nonfederal fixed or mobile operations. Other parties continue to raise questions, as they did in the initial comment round (see 2503030045).
Crown Castle announced deals to sell its fiber unit to Zayo and its small-cell business to EQT for a total of $8.5 billion as the company focuses on the macro tower sector and 40,000 U.S. towers. The company also released financial results for 2024. Both announcements came after the close of financial markets Thursday. CEO Steven Moskowitz said the outlook for tower construction in 2025 is mostly positive.
The government defended the FCC in a reply brief in FCC v. Consumers’ Research, the USF case before the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that Consumers' Research (CR) creates a “straw man” to attack. Public interest groups, led by the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, also defended the legality of how the USF contribution factor is calculated. SCOTUS is set to hear oral argument March 26.