National Association of State 911 Administrators President Pokey Harris clarified Wednesday that her organization and the National Emergency Number Association are “absolutely not at odds” on pushing for Congress to address funding for next-generation 911 tech upgrades, despite statements in a Tuesday interview indicating some minor differences in the groups' preferred processes (see 2507080065). Republican lawmakers decided against allocating any future spectrum auction revenue for NG-911 in the budget reconciliation package that both chambers passed last week (see 2507030056).

Paramount’s settlement with President Donald Trump over the editing of a 60 Minutes segment “should alarm anyone who values a free and independent press,” FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said Tuesday evening at an American Civil Liberties Union town hall in Wheaton, Maryland. The event was the latest in Gomez’s “First Amendment Tour” series of speaking engagements. The settlement was a “desperate move,” and Paramount “would have prevailed [in court] on the facts and on the law,” Gomez said. “Instead of standing on principle, Paramount opted for a payout.” She told the 45 or so attendees that “now is the time to stand up and push back against this assault on free expression, because even when this administration holds so much power, it remains afraid of everyday citizens speaking up and using our voices.” The country needs the corporate parents of media organizations to support a free press, she added. “To have a free press, we need to have free journalists, free from corporate pressure that shareholders would prefer to settle with the administration than support their news organizations.”

T-Mobile is adjusting its practices to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs targeted by the Trump administration, said Mark Nelson, the carrier's general counsel, in a letter to the FCC posted Wednesday. Commissioner Anna Gomez criticized T-Mobile for making the concessions.

New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin on Tuesday updated price targets for communications providers as a result of tax-cut provisions in the reconciliation bill that President Donald Trump signed into law last week (see 2507070045). Among the biggest movers were Charter, whose new target is $494 a share, up from $448; T-Mobile, up to $317 from $308; and Verizon, up to $45 from $43.

The FCC, Congress and others have been considering alternative funding mechanisms for USF, and now that the program's legality has been affirmed, they can move forward, Parks Associates analyst Kristen Hanich wrote Tuesday. The U.S. Supreme Court last month upheld the constitutionality of USF's contribution scheme (see 2506270054). With only 25% of U.S. internet households receiving phone service, USF "must evolve in order to meet the needs of Americans for the next 30 years," she said.

The FTC failed to follow procedural requirements of the FTC Act when it adopted its "click-to-cancel" rule, an 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel said Tuesday as it vacated the regulation. NCTA, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others petitioned the panel about the rule (see 2411220029), which is aimed at making it easier to cancel negative-option contracts, where consumers must actively opt out of monthly subscriptions.

President Donald Trump signed off Friday on the revised budget reconciliation package, previously known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, restoring the FCC’s spectrum auction authority for the first time since it lapsed in March 2023. The measure, which ultimately mirrored the Senate’s version, mandates an 800 MHz spectrum auction pipeline but exempts the 3.1-3.45 GHz and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands from potential reallocation (see 2507030056). The National Emergency Number Association and WISPA separately aired grievances with Congress failing to act on the groups’ policy priorities via reconciliation.

In an order that it ties to the agency's “Delete” proceeding, the FCC Wireline Bureau on Tuesday extended for a year a waiver pausing the phase-out of Lifeline support for voice-only services and the increase in the Lifeline minimum service standard for mobile broadband data capacity (see 2307210068). Without the extension, support for services meeting only the voice minimum service standard, which currently stands at $5.25 per month, would be eliminated for most areas on Dec. 1, the bureau said. Without a pause, the minimum service standard for mobile broadband data capacity would rise from 4.5 GB per month to 29 GB, also starting Dec. 1.

Katie McAuliffe, formerly of the Information Technology Industry Council and Americans for Tax Reform, has joined FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s office as a policy adviser, said a news release Monday. McAuliffe “will lead coalitions and external affairs work for the FCC,” it said. McAuliffe was the senior director of telecommunications policy at ITIC and worked on “spectrum policy, connectivity, broadband, privacy, antitrust and competition, internet taxes, future of work, and tech/telecom regulatory reform,” the release said. At Americans for Tax Reform, she was the director of federal policy and executive director of Digital Liberty. McAuliffe has a Master of Mass Communications with a telecommunications policy focus from the University of Florida and a Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Tech. “Katie is an outstanding addition to our team who brings a wealth of policy experience and a distinguished track record of advocating for pro-growth and pro-innovation policies,” said Carr in the release. “I look forward to drawing on her expertise to support the FCC’s work as we continue our work to deliver great results for the American people.”

NTIA now taking a "lowest cost wins" approach in BEAD doesn't necessarily doom fiber applicants, consultant and former FCC Wireline Bureau Deputy Chief Carol Mattey wrote Monday. The June 6 policy notice, which directed states to hold another round of bidding to select the lowest-cost option, doesn't mean fixed wireless applicants will prevail over fiber ones around the U.S., she said. Priority projects still win over non-priority ones, with states determining which projects qualify, Mattey said. There won't be cost comparisons between priority and non-priority projects seeking funding for the same geographic area, she said. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act defined a priority broadband project as one that can meet 100/20 Mbps speeds, easily scale over time and meet the connectivity needs of homes, businesses, 5G and other wireless technologies, she noted. While NTIA has decided that it was wrong to presume that only fiber qualified as a priority broadband project, "it would be equally inappropriate for a state broadband office to make a blanket decision that all fixed wireless applications qualify" as priority, Mattey said.