As the FCC looks at revising or doing away with its dual network and local TV rules, MVPDs told us they're likely to object along familiar lines about broadcaster consolidation tipping the balance of power in retransmission consent negotiations. FCC commissioners unanimously approved a 2022 quadrennial review NPRM in September that asks whether the local TV and dual network rules remain necessary (see 2509300062).

The FCC appears unlikely to make any moves to enforce the data privacy rules approved under the Biden administration, which were recently upheld by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, industry experts said Friday. Last week, the panel that decided the case agreed to hold it in abeyance pending the FCC’s review of the 2023 order, as the agency requested. The panel ordered the FCC to file status reports every 60 days, with the first due Dec. 16.

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

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., said Thursday that he opposes language in the Senate's FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act version (S-2296) that would give the DOD and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman authority to essentially veto commercial use of the 3.1-3.45 and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands. Hudson said during a Punchbowl News event that his next priority as Communications chair will be to enact legislation aimed at easing broadband permitting rules, despite Democrats’ recent criticism of a mostly GOP-led set of proposals during a Sept. 18 hearing (see 2509180069).

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr this week circulated revised incarcerated people's communications services (IPCS) rules that could drive up the price of calls by as much as 80% or more, said industry officials engaged in the proceeding. In interviews Thursday, they also questioned how they can even raise concerns ahead of the Oct. 28 open meeting, given the federal government’s partial shutdown.

DOJ and the FCC asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that rejected a $57 million FCC fine against AT&T for violating the agency's data protection rules. The 5th Circuit ruled in April that the fine was unconstitutional because it denied AT&T's Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial. The 2nd Circuit later upheld a similar fine against Verizon, while the D.C. Circuit upheld one against T-Mobile (see 2509100056).

U.S. arguments that spectrum licenses don't confer property rights protected by the Fifth Amendment undermine wireless providers' reliance on those licenses and could chill investment, according to USTelecom. In an amicus brief filed this week with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (docket 25-1792), USTelecom said that if spectrum licenses don't confer any protected property right, a federal agency could unilaterally override a wireless provider's right to use spectrum without triggering a right to compensation. The same goes for other authorized use of public assets, including federal lands, it said. "That theory is breathtakingly broad -- and it cannot be right."

Americans want the broadband speeds that come with fiber everywhere, but satisfying that demand isn’t possible, said telecom consultant Jimmy Schaeffler, chairman of the Carmel Group, during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. Other speakers said the U.S. should keep focusing on deploying fiber to as many locations as possible.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr didn’t testify during Wednesday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Biden administration social media censorship actions, but many Democrats continued to deride him throughout the meeting for his mid-September comments against ABC and parent Disney, which were widely perceived as influencing the network’s since-reversed decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air (see 2509180055). Meanwhile, First Amendment attorneys and academics said during an American Enterprise Institute event Wednesday that Carr’s actions have been more blatant than past FCC regulations against broadcasters and other licensees.

In Verizon’s first big move under new CEO Dan Schulman, the carrier announced Wednesday that it plans to acquire Starry, a company that offers next-generation fixed-wireless broadband. Industry experts said regulators are unlikely to ask too many questions about the deal.