Fred Moorefield, who long oversaw spectrum policy at DOD, was sentenced last week to 18 months in federal prison and six months of home detention after he pleaded guilty to dogfighting charges (see 2409160042). U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett also ordered that Moorefield pay a fine of $21,576. Prosecutors had sought a 30-month sentence. “Federal agents began investigating Moorefield’s connection to dogfighting after officers from Anne Arundel County Animal Control responded to a report of two dead dogs found in a plastic dog food bag in Annapolis, Maryland, in November 2018,” said a news release: “When Moorefield sponsored a dog in a fight, the fight ended only when a dog died or when the owner forfeited the match -- either through the dog ‘quitting’ the fight or the owner ‘picking up’ the dog. If one of Moorefield’s dogs lost a fight, but did not die, Moorefield killed the dog.” The release said Moorefield operated under the name “Geehad Kennels” and had used his home in Arnold “to keep, train, and breed dogs for dogfighting for more than 20 years.” He was affiliated with a dogfighting ring called the “DMV Board.” Moorefield was deputy DOD CIO for command, control and communications before he resigned.

Consumers’ Research and other conservative interests last week urged the FCC to zero out the USF contribution factor. Next year, the U.S. Supreme Court is slated to hear a case that Consumers’ Research brought in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (see 2412100060), which found in a 9-7 en banc decision that the contribution factor is a "misbegotten tax.” Posted Friday in docket 96-45, the filing arrived the day after the FCC Office of Managing Director proposed a contribution factor of 36.3% for Q1 2025 (see 2412120061). The contribution factor “is an unconstitutional tax raised and spent by an unaccountable federal agency -- which in turn has delegated almost all authority over this revenue-raising scheme to a private company registered in Delaware,” the Universal Service Administrative Co. The cost “is ultimately borne by consumers via a separate line item on nearly every phone bill in the country,” the filing said. In its decision, the 5th Circuit found the USAC “sets the USF Tax -- subject only to FCC’s rubber stamp” and the agency lacks "a documented process for checking USAC’s work,” the filing said. Among those endorsing the pleading was Edward Blum, president of Students for Fair Admissions, which last year won a SCOTUS case that effectively ended race-based affirmative action policies in American college admissions, and other respondents listed on Consumers’ Research’s initial SCOTUS brief.

Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition Executive Director John Windhausen is retiring, saying that "at 66 years old, I believe it is the right time for me to begin winding down professionally." SHLB said it formed a hiring committee and expects it will have Windhausen's replacement by March 3. "John has been the heart and soul of the SHLB Coalition for the past 15 years,” said outgoing board chair Cindy Aden, program chair of the University of Washington's iSchool. “His vision and tireless advocacy have been instrumental in closing the digital divide and ensuring broadband access for schools, libraries, and healthcare providers." A SHLB spokesperson said Windhausen's retirement is effective "around the first week of April."

The FCC’s final order on letter of credit (LOC) rules for providers receiving high-cost USF support saw one major change from the draft version. Commissioners approved the order 5-0, with language added at the request of Commissioner Anna Gomez (see 2412110050), addressing tribal issues. The final version notes that “making wholesale changes to our rules in the middle of an ongoing program would be unnecessary and could create confusion for support recipients,” the same as the draft. But the final version added a sentence: “Given the difficulties some Tribal carriers have collateralizing assets to support a LOC, however, we will consider waiving the relevant LOC requirements on an individual basis consistent with the Commission’s waiver standard, and we do not foreclose examining in future support programs whether Tribal carriers should be permitted to rely on alternatives to LOCs.” The FCC on Friday posted the final version of the LOC changes. It includes a statement by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. The agency also posted the final version of an order that expands the parts of the 6 GHz band where new very-low-power (VLP) devices are permitted to operate without coordination. That order was also approved 5-0 with no changes of note (see 2412110040). Only Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks issued written statements. That order was also posted on Friday.

Federal prosecutors allege former Comtech Chairman-CEO Ken Peterman sold or tried to sell tens of thousands of shares of company stock earlier this year based on insider information. DOJ said Wednesday a federal grand jury indicted Peterman on one count each of insider trading, securities fraud and wire fraud. Peterman, 67, of Encintas, California, is charged with making the transactions March 12 upon learning about a forthcoming negative earnings report and that he would lose his job, while neither of those pieces of information was public.

With USF in the crosshairs at the FCC (see 2412030044), the FCC Office of Managing Director Thursday proposed a contribution factor of 36.3% for Q1 2025. That’s up from 35.8% during Q4 2024 but below a November projection of 38.8% by analyst Billy Jack Gregg (see 2411040026). The total contribution requirement for Q1 is $2.2 billion, of which just more than $1 billion is tied to high-cost program support. Next is the schools and libraries program ($657 million), Lifeline ($288 million) and the rural healthcare program ($129.5 million).

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr answered press questions about TikTok and the Department of Government Efficiency after Wednesday’s FCC open meeting (see 2412110040). Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel didn’t hold a news conference Wednesday due to a scheduling conflict. Carr said that Congress offered TikTok “many paths forward that don’t require the app to be shut down” in legislation that requires it change owners or cease operating in the U.S. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently ruled against the company’s challenge of that law. “At this point I’m letting that process run out,” Carr said. In addition, Carr said he hasn’t had discussions with representatives of the planned Department of Government Efficiency about possible FCC cuts, but he anticipates doing so next year. There are "lots of opportunities ... [for] synergies at the FCC, even operating on our own if DOGE was never or is never set up, to look to push for greater efficiency.” For example, he said the FCC could seek more efficiency in permitting. Spending money on broadband projects but not easing the permitting process is “stepping on the gas and the brakes at the same time,” Carr said. He also discussed the Salt Typhoon hack, saying “we never should have been in this situation where these networks are compromised at this level” (see 2412110067).

Boston is saying amen to comments that Fairfax County, Virginia, submitted this week about the FCC's customer service requirements notice of inquiry. Noting Fairfax's arguments countering the cable industry's assertion that FCC action isn't needed on broad service provider customer service requirements (see 2412100010), Boston said it was "disheartening" that cable operators would rather reduce customer service as a way of cutting costs rather than try to attract new customers.

Private-sector communications companies interpret the record in the FCC's proposed customer service standards proceeding as going against the agency, while states and localities say the need for agency action is clear. That according to docket 24-472 reply comments this week. Industry groups pushed back against the NOI's proposals in initial comments last month (see 2411250020). In comments posted Tuesday, Mosaicx said tech such as virtual assistants and interactive voice response can be tailored to meet service providers' customer service needs. Accordingly, the FCC should let these technologies continue evolving, giving industry flexibility to tackle customers' needs. While many communications providers have "problematic" customer service practices, the FCC shouldn't proceed with a rulemaking, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association said. This would add unneeded customer service regulations and administrative burdens on entities, with rural electric coops "a prime example," it said. Applauding the NOI, 15 state attorneys general said it's valid for the FCC to consider extending cable customer service rules to cover satellite TV, voice and broadband service providers. They added that changing technologies mean there are decreasingly few distinctions between customer service needs of various providers. Accordingly, they urged the FCC to require that customer calls are recorded and that customers may request the recordings. In addition, missed service appointments is an issue that cries out for solutions, the attorneys general argued. Signing the filing were the AGs of Pennsylvania, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont and the District of Columbia. The cable industry's argument that customer service rules are unnecessary because market forces and competition ensure good customer service ignores the fact that cable operators don't always provide good customer service, said Fairfax County, Virginia, which applauded the proceeding. "The market forces on which the industry relies consist of corporate executives wondering whether spending serious money to improve customer service would capture enough new customers to justify the costs," it said.

AT&T CEO John Stankey anticipates a pro-growth administration and FCC with the inauguration of Donald Trump in January. During a UBS financial conference Tuesday, Stankey noted a “pro-investment dynamic” in Trump’s first term. Cutting taxes “worked” and led AT&T to make record investments in its network. Stankey said he knows Brendan Carr, tapped to lead the FCC next year, and expects him to be aggressive on making more spectrum available for carriers and on other issues important to AT&T. “He believes markets solve a lot of problems,” Stankey said of Carr: “Certainly, he's fairly public with his point of view.” AT&T plans accelerating its push to replace copper lines with updated technology, he said. “We've been working on filing in certain wire centers to show that we can move completely off of legacy technology and meet the needs of customers with newer technologies.” He added, “I'm comfortable we're moving into this at the right time.” The current FCC hasn’t opposed to the transition, “they've just been cautious,” Stankey said. Chris Sambar, a former AT&T executive, said in May the company spends $10 billion annually maintaining millions of miles of copper wires, of which only 5% remain in use (see 2405210059).