Attorneys general from nine states on Friday opposed CTIA’s request for a rulemaking to update regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The proposal faces extensive opposition (see 2505010019), but CTIA said it found broad support for moving forward. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has promised to focus on streamlining regulation and cutting red tape (see 2503030040). Reply comments were posted Friday in RM-12003.

HERSHEY, Pennsylvania -- As the FCC eliminates regulations, it will likely employ the good-cause exception to notice-and-comment rulemaking to do so quickly, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Friday.

The FCC on Friday announced commission approval of Verizon’s $20 billion acquisition of Frontier, in an action by the Wireline Bureau (see 2505160024). The approval came immediately after Verizon filed a letter at the FCC agreeing to get rid of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a recurring focus of President Donald Trump. DEI defenders criticized the order. Industry officials told us one reason FCC Chairman Brendan Carr probably didn’t seek a commissioner vote was because of the DEI provisions and concerns about opposition from the two Democratic commissioners.

Charter Communications wants to purchase fellow MVPD Cox Communications for $34.5 billion, the companies said in a joint news release and conference call Friday.

While the FCC saw lukewarm interest from terrestrial wireless players in greater access to the 42-42.5 GHz band (see 22308310053), the agency might find more enthusiasm from satellite interests, satellite spectrum experts tell us. The agency's May 22 meeting agenda will see it voting on a Further NPRM that proposes allowing more intensive satcom use of the 12.7 and 42 GHz bands, either as an alternative or complement to terrestrial wireless (see 2505010037). Some satellite operators are pushing the FCC to broaden the discussion to include the 51.4-52.4 GHz band.

Steps that EU countries are taking to protect data have major implications for the telecom sector, software provider CSG's Sean Casey said Thursday during a Mobile World Live webinar. Other speakers said geopolitical considerations are playing a big role in how carriers manage their move to the cloud and regulators are forced to pay more attention to where data is stored.

Broadcasters are poised to execute a rush of mergers and acquisitions if the FCC relaxes ownership rules, but uncertainty about markets, the direction regulators may take and the future of broadcast networks could influence deal-making, broadcast brokers said in interviews this week. The agency's failure to relax ownership rules could spur a wave of bankruptcies, they said. “The industry is crying out for some relief, and it really deserves some relief, because we can't compete with the giant companies that we're forced to compete with now,” Media Services Group co-founder George Reed said. Tideline Partners Managing Partner Gregory Guy said “2025 is the most fundamentally important year for broadcasters in decades.”

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chair Deb Fischer, R-Neb., doubled down Thursday on her opposition to the House Commerce Committee’s budget reconciliation package spectrum language (see 2505120058), saying it didn’t adequately protect DOD-controlled bands. House Commerce voted Wednesday to advance the measure, which would restore the FCC’s lapsed auction authority through FY 2034 and mandate the commission auction 600 MHz within six years (see 2505140062).

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

The Trump administration’s tariffs will affect the cost of network equipment used in building BEAD projects, but they aren’t the program's biggest challenge, experts said Wednesday during a Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition webinar.