The U.S. Supreme Court should resolve a circuit split over whether the FCC properly handed down fines against AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile for violating FCC data rules, AT&T said Friday in a filing at the court. Verizon challenged at SCOTUS a September decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit upholding a $46.9 million fine (see 2511170035). In August, the D.C. Circuit upheld a similar fine against T-Mobile (see 2508150044), while the 5th Circuit earlier rejected one imposed on AT&T (see 2504180001).
The FCC appears unlikely to move forward quickly on changing its rules for legacy business data services (BDS), as proposed in an NPRM that commissioners approved ahead of their August meeting (see 2508050056), industry officials said. Unlike other reform proposals that are getting enthusiastic endorsement, at least from industry -- including faster copper retirements (see 2509300039) and streamlined wireline siting rules (see 2511170028) -- the BDS changes are seeing little support.
Telecom carriers are changing how they work together and cooperating on making application programmable interfaces (APIs) available to customers, speakers said Thursday during a TelecomTV conference. They also warned that while carriers are anxious to find new business lines, much about how the future will look remains unclear.
Chairman Charlie Ergen and others from EchoStar met with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and his aides to emphasize that the company didn’t want to sell its spectrum licenses to AT&T and SpaceX (see 2509090036) but was left with little choice, according to an ex parte filing posted Thursday. Meanwhile, EchoStar and AT&T jointly defended the deal in a separate filing posted Thursday in docket 25-303.
While digital skills are key to people's ability to compete in the current economy, a recent New America survey found that answers vary widely on how many Americans actually have such skills, said Jessica Dine, policy analyst at New America’s Open Technology Institute, during a Fiber Broadband Association webinar Wednesday. Part of the problem is that, at least in the U.S., the term “digital skills” is poorly defined, she said.
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau on Wednesday terminated 2,048 inactive proceedings while leaving open nine that had been looked at for possible closure. An FCC proposal to delete dormant dockets got support from many commenters earlier this year, though with scattered calls to preserve several of them (see 2507100018). Most of the dockets spared have had little recent activity.
Satellite-based internet is unavoidable as part of the BEAD program, speakers agreed Wednesday during a Broadband Breakfast webinar. Steven Hill, president of the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association, and David Zumwalt, president of WISPA, downplayed concerns that BEAD will lead to “two tiers” of broadband, with fiber on top and other alternatives not as good. While most BEAD money is still expected to fund fiber, as much as 15% will pay for fixed wireless and 20% for low earth orbit satellite broadband, speakers said.
AT&T became the latest carrier to reassure FCC Chairman Brendan Carr that it's moving away from any trace of diversity, equity and inclusion in its hiring and other practices. Verizon and T-Mobile previously made similar promises to win favor with the FCC and approval of transactions before the agency. Commissioner Anna Gomez warned AT&T that appeasing President Donald Trump's administration carries reputational risks.
In what is seen as the final word, the ITU announced Monday that the next World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) and Radiocommunication Assembly will take place in Shanghai from Oct. 11 to Nov. 12, 2027. U.S. interests had tried to reverse that decision (see 2507010062). More than 4,000 delegates are expected to attend the meetings, ITU said.
Recon Analytics is finding that the frequency with which consumers access and use AI is tied to how they get online, analyst Roger Entner said last week during a Fiber Broadband Association webinar. Among consumers who use satellite or DSL, only about 10% use AI on a daily basis, compared to 28% for fixed wireless access, 32% for cable and 45% for fiber, he said.