Charter Communications and Cox Communications defended their proposed $34.5 billion deal to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in a joint filing posted Wednesday in docket 25-07-016 (see 2505160060). The CPUC Public Advocates Office (Cal Advocates), The Utility Reform Network (TURN) and Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT) filed various protests against the deal earlier this month seeking more information about the companies' proposed transaction.

As non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite systems become more established, the FCC will face more pressure to revisit the rules, frameworks and spectrum-sharing approaches they operate under, space regulatory consultant Patricia Cooper said Thursday at a New America/International Center for Law & Economics webinar.

House Communications Subcommittee members traded partisan barbs during a Thursday hearing over a largely GOP-initiated set of broadband permitting bills (see 2509120072) that Democrats claim won’t be effective in speeding up connectivity buildout. Republicans filed many of the 29 bills in past Congresses, including several they previously combined into the controversial American Broadband Deployment Act (see 2305240069). Subpanel Democrats also punctuated the hearing with criticism of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for threats against ABC and parent company Disney that resulted in the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! (see 2509180055).

Republican FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty agreed Thursday with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr that broadcasters lack the same First Amendment protections as others because of how they're regulated. Speaking at a Free State Foundation lunch, Trusty also indicated that she believes President Donald Trump is legally able to fire FCC commissioners, though she noted that issue is before the courts.

Congressional Democrats swiftly decried FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday night and Thursday for what they see as his central role in pressuring ABC and parent Disney before the network, Nexstar and Sinclair pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air indefinitely Wednesday night (see 2509180066). Carr threatened ABC in a podcast interview, saying it should discipline Kimmel for comments about the political affiliation of the suspected killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk (see 2509170064) or face FCC action.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s use of agency threats against Disney, ABC and local broadcasters on Wednesday led to Jimmy Kimmel Live! being pulled from the air within hours, and Carr is widely expected to keep repeating the tactic, academics and attorneys said in interviews Thursday.

Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.

Smaller ISPs and new entrants like North Carolina-based Ripple Fiber are finding ways to compete in a rapidly evolving broadband marketplace, CEO Greg Wilson said Wednesday during a Fiber Broadband Association webinar. While deployment remains costly, he said using data to strategically target markets and partnering with local communities are helping smaller providers overcome challenges.

The spectrum that is likely to be used for a “Golden Dome” and other details remain unclear eight months into the second Trump presidency (see 2503100058), National Spectrum Consortium CEO Joe Kochan told reporters in a briefing Wednesday. Leaders of the consortium, which works with industry and the government on spectrum issues, also said reallocating the upper C band for 6G and moving to more dynamic sharing remain complicated, with no easy answers in sight.

The House Commerce Committee voted 50-1 Wednesday to advance a revised version of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-979), despite some members’ misgivings about including a shorter sunset period as a compromise with pro-automotive industry lawmakers. HR-979 and its Senate Commerce Committee-advanced companion, S-315, would require the Department of Transportation to mandate that future automobiles include AM radio technology, mostly affecting electric vehicles (see 2502100072). The bill’s supporters unsuccessfully tried to attach it to a December 2024 continuing resolution to extend federal appropriations (see Ref:2412180033]).