FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated for a vote Wednesday an order and NPRM on the 4.9 GHz band, industry and FCC officials confirmed. The item wasn't circulated for action at the FCC’s Nov. 17 meeting. The order would establish a national band manager, which would govern the leasing process in the band, and the NPRM asks for feedback on details of how the leasing process could work, officials said. The order would allow public safety to interrupt any commercial operations. In May 2021, shortly after becoming acting chair, Rosenworcel got the FCC to stay a 2020 order that gave states control over how the band is used (see 2105270071), over a dissent by Commissioner Brendan Carr. Both Rosenworcel and fellow Democrat Geoffrey Starks had opposed the earlier order (see 2009300050). In September 2021, commissioners asked new questions in a Further NPRM (see 2109300053).
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Monday she will seek a vote on a 12 GHz for 5G notice of inquiry at the commission’s Oct. 27 open meeting. Rosenworcel told NTIA’s Spectrum Policy Symposium she shared a draft NOI with NTIA earlier this month.
Competitive Carriers Association President Steve Berry will retire at the end of the year, citing health reasons, the group announced Wednesday. Berry will be replaced by Tim Donovan, now the group's senior vice president-legislative affairs, CCA said. CCA Senior Vice President Lucy Tutwiler Hodas is being named chief operating officer. Berry joined the group 13 years ago when it was still the Rural Cellular Association. He was formerly a top lobbyist for NTCA and CTIA.
T-Mobile, as expected, dominated the 2.5 GHz auction (see 2208300021), winning 7,156 licenses for $304.3 million, the FCC announced Thursday. The auction had gross proceeds of $427.8 million. PTI Pacifica was the second-highest bidder, at $17.7 million. TeleGuam Holdings bid $16.6 million. By number of licenses won, the No. 2 bidder was North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation, with 107. The FCC said 63 bidders won a total of 7,872 licenses.
The FCC’s 2.5 GHz auction ended Monday, after 73 bidding rounds, hitting net proceeds of $427.8 million. The FCC found winning bidders for 7,872 of the 8,017 licenses offered. New Street’s Phillip Burnett predicted the imminent closing in a Sunday note to investors. “Assuming the auction ends this week, we should get results about a week following close, putting us in the ‘early-to mid-September’ timeframe,” he said.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Friday upheld the FCC’s 2020 5.9 GHz order, allocating 45 MHz of the band for Wi-Fi and 30 MHz for cellular vehicle-to-everything technology. In January oral argument, judges appeared sympathetic to the FCC in a case brought by ITS America and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
The FCC’s 2.5 GHz auction rose above $200 million Thursday, hitting $208.2 million after two bidding rounds for the day. Sasha Javid, BitPath chief operating officer, predicted Wednesday the auction would hit that mark Thursday but questioned whether total bids will rise above $300 million. The auction started July 29. Two more rounds are scheduled for Thursday.
Senate Democratic leaders have abandoned talk of seeking a vote this week to discharge FCC nominee Gigi Sohn from the Commerce Committee’s jurisdiction, panel Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us Thursday night. Democratic leaders had earlier been eyeing whether they could pursue a discharge vote this week because all 50 Democratic caucus members were available and a handful of Republicans were absent from the chamber.
The FCC will reopen for visitors Thursday, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced at the end of Wednesday’s commission meeting. This will be the first time the FCC’s new headquarters has been open to the public. The FCC’s July 14 meeting will be open to the public, she said.
The Supreme Court blocked Texas’ social media law HB 20 from being enforced while under consideration by the lower courts with a 5-4 emergency ruling late Tuesday in NetChoice v. Ken Paxton. Justices Elena Kagan, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch opposed the request from CCIA and NetChoice to vacate the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ lifting of a preliminary injunction against HB 20. The only opinion provided was a dissent from Alito, joined by Thomas and Gorsuch, arguing that the tech groups aren’t likely to prevail on the merits and that by vacating the stay, SCOTUS is interfering with the authority of lower courts and the Texas state government. “The preliminary injunction entered by the District Court was itself a significant intrusion on state sovereignty, and Texas should not be required to seek preclearance from the federal courts before its laws go into effect,” Alito wrote. Said CCIA in a release: “We are encouraged that this attack on First Amendment rights has been halted until a court can fully evaluate the repercussions of Texas’s ill-conceived statute ... This ruling means that private American companies will have an opportunity to be heard in court before they are forced to disseminate vile, abusive or extremist content under this Texas law.” The Texas Attorney General’s office did not immediately comment.