Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez defended the USF program during a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday before the U.S. Supreme Court argument in FCC v. Consumers’ Research (see 2503260061).
Jenner & Block on Tuesday became the latest major law firm to run afoul of President Donald Trump, who issued an executive order instructing his administration to review federal contracts with the firm and security clearances of its lawyers. Jenner previously employed Andrew Weissmann, a Trump critic and former federal prosecutor who worked on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Trump in his first presidency. Jenner “is yet another law firm that has abandoned the profession's highest ideals, condoned partisan ‘lawfare,’ and abused its pro bono practice to engage in activities that undermine justice and the interests of the United States,” the order said. The firm has an active communications practice.
BEAD's pivot toward supposed tech neutrality is concerning if it treats alternatives to fiber such as low earth orbit satellites or fixed wireless as interchangeable with fiber, New America blogged Monday. LEO and fixed wireless have lower upfront deployment costs than fiber, but a fiber connection has vastly more capacity than LEO and a useful life of dozens of years, it said. Fiber might be more expensive upfront, but it could save replacement later, New America said, adding states must ensure that plans for universal access will be viable long-term solutions, it added. There also is a trade-off between fiber and LEO on service quality, New America said: SpaceX's Starlink service intermittently meets 100/20 Mbps speeds, while fiber capacity is more likely to be sufficient in the future, even given growing consumer bandwidth needs.
The government has “no business” forcing companies to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion programs, said FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez in a speech Tuesday to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's Legislative Summit. “The hard-fought lessons of the civil rights movement are being erased -- or worse, distorted -- to claim that fairness for all requires discrimination against some. That could not be further from the truth.”
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is planning to warn Disney that the FCC will be scrutinizing its diversity programs, he said in an interview Tuesday with Punchbowl News.
New Street’s Blair Levin warned Monday that the FCC may block transactions beyond Verizon's proposed buy of Frontier based on whether the companies get rid of diversity, equity and inclusion policies (see 2503210049). Levin specifically mentioned T-Mobile’s proposed purchase of wireless assets from UScellular (see 2405280047) and other deals.
The FCC’s new Council for National Security launched its first “major initiative” last week, sending letters to companies on the FCC’s “covered list,” including Chinese players Huawei and ZTE. The agency sent letters to all companies on the list with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and at least one subpoena, said a news release. It didn't mention Russia’s Kaspersky, on the list since March 2022 (see 2203250067). The FCC didn’t comment on the omission Friday.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a mandate Thursday closing the fight over the court’s decision against the FCC’s 2024 net neutrality order and transmitting its decision to the FCC. The mandate wasn’t a surprise. The 6th Circuit recently rejected a public interest group petition for en banc review of the decision (see 2503110050).
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s letter to Google over faith-based programming (see 2503070052) goes against the intent of his “In Re: Delete, Delete, Delete” proceeding and appears to be more of a political gesture than an indication of FCC action, said retired telecom attorney Jonathan Nuechterlein in a blog post Thursday for the Technology Policy Institute.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Wednesday turned down requests to stay parts of the FCC’s October order on the 4.9 GHz band. The Bay Area Rapid Transit District, the National Sheriffs' Association and the California State Sheriffs' Association asked for a stay (see 2503070024). But an order by a three-judge panel denied the motions, saying: “Movants have not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending court review.”