FCC commissioners unanimously adopted an NPRM seeking comment on rules designed to provide more spectrum for uncrewed aircraft systems. Commissioner Anna Gomez recused herself from voting on the 450 GHz portion of the notice. The NPRM proposes changes in service rules for 650 kHz in the 450 MHz band. “In their current form, these site-based rules confine air-ground communications in the band to voice communications with aircraft traveling at high altitudes,” the NPRM said: “We propose to replace the current rigid framework with rules that embrace more flexible use of the band while minimizing the possibility for harmful interference by creating a single nationwide license.”
Eight former FCC commissioners filed an amicus brief at the U.S. Supreme Court last week urging the justices to overturn the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ 9-7 en banc decision invalidating part of the USF program. Meanwhile, likely Senate Communications Subcommittee leaders Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., led an amicus brief with 27 other House and Senate lawmakers defending the funding mechanism.
Federated Wireless CEO Iyad Tarazi expects relative stability on spectrum issues with the change in administrations, though he noted there are always questions. In a wide-ranging interview with us, he predicted that sharing in some form will be part of the rules for the lower 3 GHz band, one of the top focuses of carriers for exclusive, licensed use. A former Sprint executive, Tarazi became CEO of Federated in 2014.
With the FCC considering an NPRM and notice of inquiry as the agency's next steps on AI, the issue of AI and robocalls will only grow in importance, experts said Thursday during an FCBA webinar. They also agreed that generative AI could yield new tools that can help curb unwanted and illegal texts and calls.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr slammed the FCC’s forthcoming enforcement action in response to the Salt Typhoon cyberattacks, which China's Ministry of State Security allegedly perpetrated. Industry officials note that the disagreement between Carr, who takes the FCC's helm next week, and departing Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel points in part to a long-standing divide between FCC Republicans and Democrats about the agency's role in cybersecurity.
WTA and a group of healthcare entities filed amicus briefs at the U.S. Supreme Court urging the court to overturn the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ 9-7 en banc decision invalidating part of the USF program. The briefs supported arguments of the FCC (see 2501090045), the telecom industry and public interest groups (see 2501100057). Consumer group Public Citizen warned of negative effects beyond the FCC if SCOTUS upholds the 5th Circuit decision. Consumers' Research challenged the contribution factor in the 5th Circuit and other courts.
President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency may struggle to make the deep cuts in the federal workforce it seeks, experts said during a discussion at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs late Monday. Moreover, Trump would face legal challenges implementing Schedule F, which would strip federal employees of civil service protections and facilitate replacing them with Trump loyalists, they said (see 2407110054).
President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed an executive order aimed at fast-tracking the buildout of large-scale AI infrastructure in the U.S. Meanwhile, during an Analysys Mason webinar, industry officials said the telecom industry remains in the very early stages of figuring out how it will use AI.
The FCC defended its 3-2 April decision (see 2404290044) to fine T-Mobile $80 million for allegedly not safeguarding data on customers' real-time locations, filing a brief Friday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. T-Mobile was also fined $12.2 million for violations by Sprint, which it later acquired. Whether the government will continue fighting T-Mobile and the other major carriers is in doubt following the start of Donald Trump's presidency next week, industry lawyers said. Republican Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington dissented on the April order, even though the FCC approved the initial notices of apparent liability under Republican Chair Ajit Pai with Carr’s approval (see 2002280065). Simington wasn’t a commissioner at that time. Verizon challenged the FCC’s fine in the 2nd Circuit, AT&T in the 5th Circuit (see 2411060008). The 5th Circuit is slated to hear oral argument the week of Feb. 3.
The company challenging Hobbs Act limits on lower court review of an FCC decision in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act case told the U.S. Supreme Court the government and its supporters are seeking “a strikingly broad reading” of the act. SCOTUS is scheduled to hear McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson Jan. 21, a case from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.