Comcast -- which saw notable subscriber losses in Q1 in broadband and video -- also may be an early sign of a softening advertising market, analysts said Thursday after the company announced Q1 results. Pointing to what he called an "intensely competitive environment," President Mike Cavanagh said Comcast "was not winning in the marketplace in a way that is commensurate" with the strength of its network and products. He then laid out plans that would address the company's issues.
Carrier groups urged the FCC to move cautiously as it updates its Part 36 separations rules, which haven’t seen a major overhaul for more than 35 years. The rules remain important for many small providers, they noted in comments due Wednesday in docket 80-286. The FCC also has the ongoing “Delete, Delete, Delete” proceeding, which is examining eliminating rules of all kinds (see 2504140046 and 2504140063).
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez condemned the agency’s threats against broadcast networks and warned that a loss of its independence could hurt internationally. Gomez delivered remarks during a Center for Democracy & Technology event Thursday in Washington. It was the first stop on what Gomez called a “1st Amendment Tour” in a release earlier this week. “I'm embarking on a tour to talk about this administration's efforts of censor and control, because we need people to understand what's happening, and we need them to speak out,” she said Thursday. “We are in an alarming moment, and I am not someone who is generally alarmist.”
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions. New cases since the last update are marked with a *.
AT&T CEO John Stankey warned Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s tariffs could hurt the carrier, echoing Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg on Tuesday (see 2504220033). Unlike Verizon, which lost postpaid phone subscribers in Q1, AT&T reported 324,000 postpaid phone net adds in the quarter, buoyed by FirstNet.
Two top Senate Commerce Committee Democrats are voicing concerns that speculation that President Donald Trump may move to fire FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez (see 2503200057) will scare off potential Democratic candidates to replace retiring Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. Democratic FCC stakeholders began worrying about Gomez’s fate after Trump’s unprecedented March firings of Democratic FTC Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter (see 2503190057). Legal experts said during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday that the U.S. Supreme Court appears likely to overturn Humphrey’s Executor v. U.S., a 1935 decision stopping the president from firing FTC commissioners without cause, which has implications for the FCC and other independent agencies.
Apple and Meta violated the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), the European Commission said Wednesday in its first noncompliance decisions under the measure. It hit Apple with a $568 million (500 million euros) fine and Meta with $227 million (200 million euros). Neither company commented immediately.
A loss of agency independence will ease the path for corruption and make it harder to address bipartisan issues such as privacy and increasing competition, said a trio of Democratic agency officials recently fired by the White House. For agencies like the FTC or Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, “if we are an arm of the administration, then instead of being a watchdog, we become a lap dog,” said fired PCLOB member and former FCC official Travis LeBlanc during a Center for American Progress panel discussion Wednesday.
The U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., ordered the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) on Tuesday to restore the shuttered Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and Middle Eastern Broadcast Network.
Changes wrought by President Donald Trump’s return to the White House are already affecting telecom industry financials. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg noted the risks from tariffs on a call with analysts Tuesday after the company released Q1 results. The nation’s largest wireless provider reported a net loss of 289,000 monthly postpaid phone subscribers in the quarter, after adding 568,000 in Q4 2024.