Telecom executives and analysts discussed the rise of satellite broadband offerings, cybersecurity concerns and the future of fixed wireless in panels and remarks Monday at NARUC's Winter Policy Summit.

House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., warned FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Monday that he does “not have the authority to alter or eliminate the 39 percent national television ownership cap.” Pallone raised his concerns in a letter to Carr ahead of the Senate Commerce Committee’s planned hearing Tuesday on the ownership cap (see 2602030070).

The U.S. can lead the world on AI, but that requires consistent regulation and the ability of providers to build new infrastructure, FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty told the State of the Net conference Monday in Washington. Trusty emphasized the broader Trump administration theme that state laws shouldn’t be allowed to slow growth. “Leadership in AI is not something you declare. It is something you earn and something you must continuously defend.”

President Donald Trump endorsed the Nexstar/Tegna deal and called national TV networks “THE ENEMY” in a social media post Saturday, which was quickly seconded by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. “Letting Good Deals get done like Nexstar-Tegna will help knock out the Fake News because there will be more competition, and at a higher and more sophisticated level,” Trump said on Truth Social.

Wireless and satellite interests are reinforcing their arguments on whether a spectrum slice in the 28.35-28.6 GHz band needs to remain a guard band protecting upper microwave flexible-use service (UMFUS) networks from adjacent-band earth stations in motion (ESIM). Docket 17-95 comments last week saw those interests largely buttress claims made last month as the FCC seeks comments about communications with ESIMs in the 28.35-28.6 GHz band (see 2601220027). In comments posted Friday, wireless interests also pushed back on SpaceX calls for the FCC to green-light ESIM operations across a wider array of Ku-band frequencies.

Industry commenters advised the FCC against handing down more regulation in response to a Further NPRM seeking comment on tougher caller ID rules (see 2601070012). Numerous comments called the state of the call-branding market “nascent.” Reply comments were due last week in docket 17-59 on the FNPRM, which commissioners approved in October (see 2510280024).

Holding the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) in Shanghai (see 2512010044) poses special challenges and the U.S. must make sure its management remains as neutral as possible, said Steve Lang, U.S. ambassador to the last WRC in 2024. Lang also said China likely pushed to hold the conference because officials there were concerned about growing U.S. influence at the ITU. Lang spoke on a Technology Policy Institute podcast posted late Thursday.

The Trump administration Thursday finalized a rule that will mean fewer protections for up to 50,000 federal workers. That could have significant implications for the FCC, the NTIA, the FTC and other federal agencies involved with communications policy, but the net effect may not be known for months, experts said Friday. The White House must still identify which employees fall under the new Schedule PC. The final rule is also expected to face a slew of legal challenges from federal employee unions and others.

The battle continues over whether the FCC should further tweak its incarcerated people’s communications services rules in a way that’s more friendly to IPCS providers. Comments were due this week in docket 23-62 on a Further NPRM approved as an add-on to the October order that rolled back 2024 rates. Commissioners unanimously approved those rates following congressional direction in the Martha Wright-Reed Act of 2022 (see 2501280053).

Congress made the right move by forestalling state or local regulation that could have held up development and deployment of the internet, and similar approaches might be warranted for AI, Meta Head of Global Policy Kevin Martin said Thursday. Pointing to the federal moratorium on state and local government taxation on internet access and the restrictions on taxes on e-commerce, the former FCC chairman said a similar moratorium on AI, an inherently interstate service, would give the federal government time to study AI oversight and make recommendations. Martin was speaking at Incompas’ policy conference in Washington. Much of the Incompas event revolved around permitting related to AI and data centers, particularly energy permitting.