Satellite operators are “essentially flying blind” without an international protocol for sharing data about the location and position of objects in space and for planning maneuvers, said Kim Baum, Eutelsat/OneWeb vice president-spectrum engineering and strategy. Speaking at the Satellite 2025 show, she said there's a need for a universal directory of every satellite operator, including contact information, to deal with spectrum, as well as coordination of satellites possibly on collision courses. Multiple speakers mentioned the need for additional international coordination and agreement.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told us Monday night that he doesn’t expect the chamber to “get to” a vote this week on a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to undo the FCC's July 2024 order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots (S.J.Res. 7). That means Senate action on S.J.Res. 7 likely won’t happen until after the chamber returns from its brief, upcoming recess the week of March 24. The Senate has a 60-session-day deadline from S.J.Res. 7’s Jan. 27 filing to fast-track consideration of the measure.

Senate Commerce Committee member Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said Tuesday that he is pushing for his Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act (S-838) to be part of an upcoming GOP-led budget reconciliation package. He and other lawmakers at Incompas' Policy Summit were divided along party lines over a push within the Commerce Department and Congress to revamp NTIA’s $42.5 billion BEAD program. Meanwhile, Moran appeared to lean in favor of repurposing some federally controlled spectrum even as he emphasized that lawmakers must “straddle” the interests of the wireless industry and U.S. military as they negotiate the matter as part of reconciliation (see 2502190068).

The FCC on Tuesday sought comment on the competitive bidding procedures for the upcoming AWS-3 auction. The notice comes with an AWS-3 NPRM, approved 4-0 last month (see 2502270042), still pending. It proposes an ascending clock auction format where bidding in the opening phase would be for specific licenses, without a separate assignment phase, similar to the 2.5 GHz auction three years ago.

The FCC is "moving at breakneck speed" and "really swinging for the fences" since the start of the Trump administration, Chairman Brendan Carr said Tuesday at Incompas' Policy Summit. Carr reiterated his "pretty aggressive agenda," which includes addressing media issues, reining in Big Tech, pushing initiatives that will "spur economic growth," and supporting national security and public safety.

The Donald Trump administration’s tariffs and conflicts with traditional allies in North America and Europe could complicate U.S. preparations for the next World Radiocommunication Conference in 2027, experts said Tuesday during a Technology Policy Institute spectrum webinar. The U.S. has traditionally worked through the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL), which represents the Americas region, but relationships with other CITEL members are increasingly in question, speakers said.

Free speech and press groups joined with the unusual alliance of NAB, Public Knowledge, TechFreedom and Free Press in condemning the FCC’s news distortion complaint against CBS in comments filed by Friday’s deadline in docket 25-73.

Despite the bottleneck of launch availability at the most heavily used U.S. sites, launch operators don't foresee packing up and moving to another, lesser-used spaceport. Launch company executives speaking Monday at the Satellite 2025 show in Washington said the size of rockets, especially heavy launch vehicles, precludes using some spaceports. Regulatory issues can also be an impediment. Brian Rogers, vice president-global launch services for Rocket Lab, added that it's incredibly expensive to set up infrastructure at another site.

As President Donald Trump's administration approaches the end of its second month, many questions remain about what it will do concerning the national spectrum strategy and the studies of the lower 3 and 7/8 GHz band started under former President Joe Biden. Most of the news out of NTIA so far has been about BEAD's future, with little on spectrum.

The FCC's Note 11 rule, regulating TV network affiliations changing hands, might exceed the agency's Communications Act authority, a pair of 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges said Friday as the court vacated a $518,283 fine against Gray Television for violating the rule. Neither the commission nor Gray, which was challenging the forfeiture order (see 2301040059), commented. The FCC charged that Gray violated rules against owning two top-four stations in a market when it bought the network affiliation of an Anchorage TV station from Denali Media.