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).

CTIA offered the FCC a list of programs for streamlining through the commission’s “Delete” proceeding in comments posted Monday in docket 25-133. In addition, USTelecom recommended “eliminating, streamlining, or reforming” some 3,000 rules in the "Code of Federal Regulations." The comments provide commission staff with thousands of suggestions to wade through as they evaluate changes the telecom industry suggested. As of late Monday, the commission has received nearly 900 comments in the proceeding (see 2504140063 and 2504140037).

Broadcasters called for the FCC to “delete” nearly every reporting and filing obligation the agency imposes on them in scores of comments posted in docket 25-133 Monday, but the agency should roll back ownership rules first, NAB said. Multichannel video programming distribution (MVPD) interests and allies repeatedly argued that the highly competitive video distribution marketplace necessitates doing away with rules they claim tip the competitive scales. The docket also received many comments from space interests and the telecom industry (see 2504140037 and 2504140046).

The USF's future is one of the biggest issues for Competitive Carriers Association members, CEO and President Tim Donovan said in an interview. The organization is “cautiously optimistic” following U.S. Supreme Court arguments in the Consumers' Research case (see 2503260061), he said.

The FCC lacks authority to impose new Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (Calm) Act requirements on current licensees or extend the rules to streaming services, said industry commenters in filings in docket 25-72, which were due Thursday. A nonprofit dedicated to fighting noise pollution and the Hearing Loss Association of America wrote in support of tougher FCC Calm Act enforcement, while NAB, NCTA and the Streaming Innovation Alliance (SIA) opposed any further ad loudness rules. “The Commission cannot -- and should not -- alter the CALM Act technical standards or impose new obligations,” NCTA said.

Major providers discussed what they saw as the key technical rules for the upcoming AWS-3 auction in comments on a March public notice on its bidding procedures. Initial comments are already in on a separate NPRM looking more generally at changes to auction rules (see 2504010055). Replies on the NPRM are due next week. The auction will offer licenses that affiliates of Dish Network returned to the FCC in 2023, as well as unsold licenses from the initial AWS-3 auction 10 years ago.

Comments in Chairman Brendan Carr's “Delete, Delete, Delete” docket (25-133) continue to roll in to the FCC. As of late Friday, the due date, nearly 600 comments have been filed. Also on Friday, USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter compared the docket to “spring cleaning.”

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).

Letting ISPs retire copper lines and move to next-generation technologies is critical to broadband deployment, industry experts said during a USTelecom forum Thursday. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has said repeatedly that the agency wants to make it easier for ISPs to modernize their networks (see 2504030011). Other executives warned that uncertainty in the BEAD program could be slowing broadband deployment.

A White House executive order that says agencies can dispense with notice-and-comment requirements when repealing some rules is unlikely to have an immediate impact on the FCC because Chairman Brendan Carr has at his disposal many traditional ways of deleting rules, academics, industry lobbyists and attorneys said in interviews. Along with the order on notice and comment, the White House also released an order requiring agencies to scuttle “anti-competitive” regulations and another repealing showerhead measures that could affect how agencies justify decisions.