A U.S. District Court judge appeared to repeatedly show strong skepticism Monday toward government arguments defending the White House's executive order targeting law firm Jenner & Block. It's among multiple Big Law targets of President Donald Trump's executive orders, though it's uncertain whether those orders affect communications lawyers (see 2504170027). Jenner & Block is challenging the order (see 2504010072), with Monday's session addressing the firm's motion for a permanent injunction and DOJ's rival motion to dismiss. "Give me a break," Judge John Bates scoffed during roughly 100 minutes of oral argument as DOJ lawyer Richard Lawson was arguing that allegations of racial discrimination in Jenner's hiring were the rationale for the order to bar the firm's employees from accessing federal agencies and buildings.
Charter Communications crossed the 10 million mobile lines mark in Q1 with its Xfinity Mobile service, ending the quarter with 10.4 million, it said Friday as it announced its latest financial results. With 2.1 million mobile lines added in the past year, Charter is the nation’s fastest-growing mobile provider, CEO Chris Winfrey said in a call with analysts.
Shareholders at major communications, media and tech companies are increasingly grappling with diversity, equity and inclusion questions, as is evident from numerous DEI-related shareholder proposals on the agendas of companies' latest annual meetings. The increased shareholder activism around DEI isn't limited to tech and communications, as the 2025 proxy season is experiencing a jump in proposals seeking to roll back or limit those corporate efforts, according to the Conference Board.
Comcast -- which saw notable subscriber losses in Q1 in broadband and video -- also may be an early sign of a softening advertising market, analysts said Thursday after the company announced Q1 results. Pointing to what he called an "intensely competitive environment," President Mike Cavanagh said Comcast "was not winning in the marketplace in a way that is commensurate" with the strength of its network and products. He then laid out plans that would address the company's issues.
New BEAD guidance from NTIA is expected in the middle of next month, state sources told us. There have been indications from the Commerce Department and elsewhere that big changes are ahead for BEAD rules (see 2503200003). NTIA didn't comment.
A federal appellate court's rejection of a $57 million FCC fine -- calling it unconstitutional -- could force the agency to revisit and overhaul its enforcement processes. The agency clearly has authority to enforce laws requiring telecommunications companies to protect sensitive customer data, but the FCC "must do so consistent with our Constitution’s guarantees of an Article III decisionmaker and a jury trial," a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week as it vacated the fine against AT&T that stemmed from handling of customer data. T-Mobile and Verizon are challenging similar fines levied in the same April 2024 enforcement action. In siding with AT&T, the court said it was guided by the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 Jarkesy decision regarding whether federal regulatory agencies can bring in-house proceedings to enforce civil penalties.
The U.S. trade war and resulting geopolitical tensions are a short-term not a long-term worry, a trio of satellite executives said Wednesday during a panel discussion. They were also bullish about their prospects in the face of competition from SpaceX and, soon, Amazon's Kuiper.
Some space operator interests, including SpaceX and the Commercial Space Federation, are keen on shot clocks for satellite and earth station licensing determinations, according to docket 25-133 filings posted Monday in FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's "Delete" proceeding. Space industry filings also included several companies targeting technical rules and requirements. Other "Delete" proceeding submissions presented deregulatory ideas from telecom, broadcast and cable interests (see 2504140046 and 2504140063).
The FCC and FTC are moving toward trying to rein in what they see as overly broad applications of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and to reverse what their agency leaders call censorship by social media platforms. Agency watchers said they expect the FCC to issue an advisory opinion soon, though some see such an opinion as more performative than practical. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has repeatedly said that addressing "the censorship cartel" is one of the agency's priorities (see 2411210028). His office and the FTC didn't comment. FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez has been critical of the possibility of a Section 230 advisory opinion (see 2502240062).
The FCC's 2024 foreign-sponsored content rules are potentially "problematic" in how they put most advertising into the category of "leases," U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Judge Gregory Katsas said at oral argument Monday. NAB is challenging the rules (docket 24-1296) (see 2501220078). During oral argument, the group repeatedly emphasized that there's a difference between leases and ad time. Meanwhile, Judge Karen Henderson seemed skeptical of NAB arguments that the order caught it unaware.