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

The FCC’s recent pressure campaign against broadcast networks continued this week as Commissioner Nathan Simington blasted ABC and American Idol for hiring Lin-Manuel Miranda. Meanwhile, a group of nine Senate Democratic caucus members pressed Paramount Global not to settle President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against CBS over 60 Minutes’ October 2024 interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, who was then the Democrats’ presidential nominee (see 2411010044).

The importance of AI and other new technology to wireless industry growth and success was a major topic at this week’s CTIA 5G Summit. Other discussions centered on the need for more high-power licensed spectrum in the U.S. and the threat from China (see 2505060036).

Senate Public Works Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., is pressing the Commerce Department and Secretary Howard Lutnick “to expedite not only the review and release of updated guidance” for NTIA's $42.5 billion BEAD initiative, “but the program as a whole.” Capito, who's also a Commerce Committee member, previously raised concerns that the review of BEAD, which Lutnick started, could unnecessarily delay NTIA's rollout of funding to West Virginia (see 2503050067). Senate Commerce Democrats have sharply criticized the Trump administration's BEAD plans, citing them in April as a reason to vote against NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth (see 2504090037).

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday “to guard the critical spectrum resources currently assigned to” DOD, which has proposed reallocating some military-controlled bands (see 2504040068). Cantwell said any DOD reallocation in response to congressional Republicans’ push for a spectrum pipeline as part of a coming budget reconciliation package would put “short-term corporate gain ahead of our nation’s long-term security.”

Money, not technology, is the biggest hurdle to satellite providing "fiber in the sky"-like connectivity, said Michael Abad-Santos, Rivada Space Networks' deputy chief commercial officer, at International Telecoms Week on Tuesday. Satellite executives also discussed spectrum needs for satellite-delivered terrestrial connectivity. George Giagtzoglou, Omnispace's vice president-strategy and marketing, said reusing terrestrial spectrum will suffice in some areas. In others, there's already dense use of terrestrial spectrum and likely none to spare for a mobile network operator (MNO) to hand off to a satellite service, he said.

The U.S. has a variety of paths to reach 600 MHz of high-power spectrum for carriers' use, the often-discussed goal of Congress, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr told reporters Tuesday following remarks at CTIA’s 5G Summit. The challenges that China presents also dominated discussions.

Supporters of the FCC's July 2024 order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services told us they will continue campaigning after the Senate cleared an initial procedural hurdle in considering a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval (S.J.Res. 7) to undo the rule. The Senate approved a motion Tuesday to proceed to the CRA measure on a 53-47 party-line vote, confounding some E-rate supporters’ expectations that a handful of Republicans would cross party lines to oppose it (see 2505060032).

Maine legislators debated whether to repeal the state’s ISP privacy law as they compared a trio of comprehensive privacy bills during a Monday hearing of the joint Judiciary Committee (see 2505050025).

AI is increasing the gap between the demand and availability of submarine cable connectivity, Telecom Italia Sparkle CEO Enrico Bagnasco said Monday. Also speaking at International Telecoms Week at National Harbor, Maryland, Chandler Vaughan, associate director of the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development's Office of Broadband, said pole attachments, railroad crossings and federal land permitting issues remain infrastructure "project killers."