House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, offered positive but different interpretations of President Donald Trump’s apparent endorsement Tuesday (see 2505200058) of the spectrum language cleared in the lower chamber's One Big Beautiful Bill Act budget reconciliation package (HR-1). The two leaders were vague about whether Trump’s statement makes it more difficult for Cruz and other senators to press for potential changes to the spectrum proposal (see 2505130059). Meanwhile, the House Rules Committee was still debating Wednesday afternoon plans for bringing HR-1 to the floor.

There are many reasons why carriers worldwide have moved slowly to 5G stand-alone (SA) networks, said Dawood Shahdad, Boost Mobile vice president-core network and innovation labs, during an RCR Wireless telco cloud and edge forum Tuesday.

NTIA joined the submarine cable industry in voicing concerns about parts of the FCC's proposed rewrite of its subsea cable rules. In docket 24-523 reply comments this week, NTIA, the subsea cable industry and allies called instead for using the proceeding to streamline existing rules. FCC Commissioners adopted the subsea cable NPRM unanimously in November (see 2411210006). Initial comments on the NPRM saw pushback from industry (see 2504150002).

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s announced plan to forgo notice-and-comment procedures when rescinding rules could run afoul of administrative law, some experts said. Carr said the agency may look to the Administrative Procedure Act's (APA) good-cause exception to notice-and-comment requirements in its efforts to remove no-longer-enforced rules (see 2505160064). An April White House memorandum said notice and comment aren't required when eliminating rules that it contends run counter to recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions like Loper Bright. FCC Chief of Staff Scott Delacourt said the commission might employ declaratory rulings as a way of eliminating what Carr determines are invalid rules.

A few tweaks are likely for the “bad labs” order and Further NPRM set for a vote at Thursday's FCC meeting, industry officials active in the proceeding told us. The item is expected to receive unanimous approval. It would prohibit FCC recognition of a telecommunications certification body, lab or lab accreditation body owned by a company on the agency’s covered list and other government rosters of unsecure companies (see 2505010037).

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is defending cuts to the agency’s workforce and other actions in written testimony ahead of the House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee’s planned Wednesday hearing on commission oversight. Carr also urges Congress again to restore the FCC’s lapsed auction authority, as House GOP leaders aimed to pass, as soon as Wednesday night, their One Big Beautiful Bill Act budget reconciliation package with spectrum language included. The House Appropriations Financial Services hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in 2358-A Rayburn.

The FCC received pushback to proposals in a January NPRM seeking comment on a voluntary, negotiation-based process to transition 10 MHz in the 900 MHz band to broadband. However, other commenters, led by utilities, urged the FCC to move forward. In 2020, the FCC approved use of 6 GHz of the band for broadband while retaining 4 MHz for narrowband operations (see 2005130057). Comments were due Friday and mostly posted Monday in docket 24-99.

The FCC received additional backing for proposals to change commission rules for the 24.45-24.65 GHz band that would provide more spectrum for drones. Support was evident in reply comments on a January NPRM (see 2504160017). The NPRM also sought comment on opening the 450 MHz band “to aeronautical command and control operations” and modernizing “legacy power rules” for aviation air-ground systems in the 849-851 and 894-896 MHz bands.

Requiring most broadcasters to gather and report equal employment opportunity data on workforce diversity is outside the FCC's legal authority, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday. The Texas Association of Broadcasters, National Religious Broadcasters and American Family Association challenged the FCC's 2024 EEO order (see 2405130041). The FCC has broad authority to act in the public interest but "cannot invoke public interest to expand the scope of its authority to act in ways Congress has not authorized it to act," Judges Jennifer Walker Elrod, Edith Jones and Carl Stewart said in a 19-page decision (docket 24-18) written by Elrod.

HERSHEY, Pennsylvania -- FCC officials speaking Saturday at the FCBA's annual seminar expressed confidence that the agency will regain spectrum auction authority. Chief of Staff Scott Delacourt said the commission expects at least one auction, AWS-3, within the next year and is taking steps to ensure it can support that auction, such as preparing necessary IT, he said. Commissioner Nathan Simington said Congress sees midband spectrum as a priority, so a significant auction should be teed up by year-end.