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

States will surely get access to at least some non-deployment BEAD funds, though it's not clear what limits will be put on their use, said Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton and Kathryn de Wit, director of the Pew Charitable Trust's broadband access initiative, during an FBA webinar Wednesday. Bolton said he's optimistic that the National Institute of Standards and Technology will accelerate its review and approval of states' final BEAD proposals, as NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth told him that the process "will go very, very quickly." NTIA and NIST didn't comment.

Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said Wednesday at CES that the Donald Trump administration's efforts to head off state AI laws are most important for small companies trying to gain a toehold in the AI space. Trump signed an executive order in December that directed NTIA to potentially curtail non-deployment funding from the BEAD program for states that the administration determines have AI laws that are overly burdensome (see 2512110068).

The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions said this week that the FCC's further NPRM seeking comment on tougher call ID rules gets the facts wrong on the issue of Stir/Shaken and the role that rich call data (RCD) could play. Other industry commenters said handing down rules now could chill industry progress addressing caller ID issues. In addition to proposed rules on caller ID, the FNPRM, approved in October, also seeks input on requiring labels for calls that originate outside the U.S. (see 2510280024). Comments were posted this week in docket 17-59.

House Antitrust Subcommittee members were sharply divided during a hearing Wednesday on concerns about the potential impact of dueling Netflix and Paramount Skydance proposals to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. The subpanel's Democrats opposed both proposals but appeared to have stronger misgivings about a Paramount Skydance purchase, given the company's recent interference with CBS’ news content. Republicans were far more muted about the WBD proposals and in some instances chided Democrats for using the hearing to criticize the Trump administration’s media regulatory actions, including FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s handling of Skydance’s $8 billion purchase of Paramount Global last year (see 2507240079).

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Wednesday that the agency will vote at its Jan. 29 meeting on an order that increases the level at which 6 GHz devices can operate while seeking to protect incumbents through geofencing. A second order on the agenda would establish new attestation and disclosure requirements for holders of agency licenses and other approvals.

Consumer Technology Association CEO Gary Shapiro waited until the end of his comments at CES on Tuesday to criticize Trump administration trade policies, while other speakers explained why AI is dominating the annual tech show and why it’s important to industry and consumers. Nearly all the keynotes at the conference this week are focused, at least in part, on AI.

SpaceX's direct-to-device ambitions, powered by a proposed 15,000 additional satellites in orbit, are facing opposition from rival satellite operators and astronomy interests. SpaceX submitted an FCC application in September to operate the constellation to provide D2D service globally, as well as mobile satellite service (MSS), using spectrum that the company is buying from EchoStar (see 2509220006). In comments filed this week in docket 25-340, numerous parties complained about potential spectrum interference or orbital clutter.

Industry commenters urged the FCC to move with caution in imposing new restrictions in response to a further NPRM approved in October as part of a broader order that further tightens the agency's equipment authorization rules (see 2510280024). The call for caution wasn’t new, as the Consumer Technology Association and Telecommunications Industry Association sought clarification last month about parts of the order itself (see 2512230008). Comments on the FNPRM were due Monday in docket 21-232.

A 2020 settlement with DOJ connected to the Nexstar/Tribune deal is unlikely to have much effect on the outcome of Nexstar’s proposed $6.2 billion purchase of Tegna, broadcast and antitrust attorneys told us.