Comments are due July 23, replies Aug. 22, regarding the FCC's proposal to codify some long-standing processes regarding foreign-ownership rules for broadcasters, common carriers and aeronautical radio licensees, the Media Bureau said Monday. Commissioners unanimously adopted the foreign-ownership NPRM at their April meeting (see 2504280038). The docket is 25-149.
Republican Olivia Trusty took office Monday as an FCC commissioner, as expected (see 2506200052). Cooley’s Robert McDowell, a former Republican commissioner, confirmed Trusty’s swearing-in on X. “Great to be at the [FCC] to see Olivia Trusty be sworn in as America’s newest Commissioner,” McDowell said. Republicans now have a majority at the agency, a shift that some see as portending quick action on items that Chairman Brendan Carr couldn’t advance with a tie. The Senate confirmed Trusty last week to two consecutive terms (see 2506180076). The FCC didn’t immediately comment.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Friday confirmed a report that the FCC is investigating participants in its voluntary cyber trust mark program for possible ties to China. Carr and all the other commissioners voted for the launch of the program in March 2024 (see 2403140034). It has been championed, in particular, by the Consumer Technology Association, which didn’t comment Friday.
The FCC has an important but still limited role to play in cybersecurity, said Joshua Levine, a research fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation, during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. The agency is rightly attempting to crack down on the authorization and use of unsecure telecom equipment in the U.S., including through its recent "bad labs" order (see 2505220056), he said. While the commission is well positioned to oversee the security of devices and the supply chain, he argued that it probably shouldn’t serve as the lead agency on cybersecurity.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez were among many communications policymakers and stakeholders who congratulated Republican Commissioner-designate Olivia Trusty on Tuesday night and Wednesday. The Senate voted 53-45 Wednesday to confirm Trusty to a five-year term that begins July 1 (see 2506180076). It cleared her Tuesday to finish the term of former Democratic Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, which ends June 30 (see 2506170072).
The 5th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court asked both sides to file briefs about the implications of Wednesday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas on the school bus Wi-Fi case before the circuit. Judges heard oral argument in November (see 2411040061) on overturning the FCC’s declaratory ruling authorizing E-rate funding for Wi-Fi on school buses (see 2312200040). The court asked for briefs of no more than five pages.
Liberty Latin America (LLA) will pay a $24,000 fine for violating the 25% cap on foreign ownership of holders of common carrier radio station licenses, the FCC Enforcement Bureau said Friday. Bermuda-based LLA provides broadband, video, mobile and telephony services in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and across the Caribbean and Latin America. The bureau said it discovered a discrepancy between the amount of foreign ownership the FCC approved for LLA and the actual ownership interest of LLA subsidiary LiLAC Ventures.
The FCC won't accept any International Communications Filing System filings between Wednesday and June 23 as part of the transition to a new, cloud-based ICFS, the FCC Space Bureau and Office of International Affairs said in Friday's Daily Digest. They said the new ICFS would be available starting at 3 p.m. June 24, and all applications and other filings are to be submitted to it. The offices said existing filings in the current ICFS will be migrated over for the full launch to occur July 2, with the current system retired and unavailable as of 5 p.m. June 18. They said during the soft launch, some existing filings may not immediately appear in the new ICFS.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said Thursday that during a two-week trip to California, she talked to Apple about its partnership with Globalstar to provide emergency satellite connectivity to iPhones. She also met with TV studio executives from ABC, NBC and Fox; entertainment-sector labor union representatives from the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of TV and Radio Artists and the Writer’s Guild of America, West; and space industry companies Planet, Astranis, Rocket Lab and K2 Space, as well as NASA’s Ames Research Center.
The price of TVs and smartphones plunged in the U.S. between May 2024 and last month, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index unadjusted data released Wednesday. Smartphone prices were down 14.3% year over year, while TV prices fell 9.8%, it said. Computers, peripherals and smart home assistant prices dropped 3.5%. The price of services was more mixed. The data said the cost of wireless phone service was down 0.5%, while residential phone service rose 1.2%. Cable, satellite and livestreaming TV service costs were up 2%, and internet service was down 3.1% The cost of video purchase/subscription/rental rose 4.4%. May prices for all items were up 2.4% year over year before seasonal adjustment, the bureau said.