The FCC is quickly following up on a November AI notice of inquiry (see 2311160028), with Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel proposing a ruling Wednesday that would make voice-cloning technology in robocall scams illegal. The draft proposes a declaratory ruling that voice-cloned calls violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The FCC recently finished a comment cycle on the NOI. Among the comments, attorneys general from 25 states and the District of Columbia asked the agency to use the proceeding to clarify that calls mimicking human voices are considered “an artificial voice” under the TCPA (see 2401170023). An FCC news release cites that filing. “AI-generated voice cloning and images are already sowing confusion by tricking consumers into thinking scams and frauds are legitimate,” Rosenworcel said: “No matter what celebrity or politician you favor, or what your relationship is with your kin when they call for help, it is possible we could all be a target of these faked calls.” If approved, the rules would give the AGs “new tools” to battle the “bad actors behind these nefarious robocalls and hold them accountable under the law,” the FCC said. Pennsylvania AG Michelle Henry said her office supports the ruling “to protect consumers from intentionally deceptive and manipulative marketing tactics.” The proposed ruling would “put the calling industry and provider community on notice that they need consent to make calls with AI,” a USTelecom spokesperson said in an email: “This important action will thwart prolific robocallers that want to use AI to deliver to consumers calls they never asked for and do not want. We encourage the Commission to quickly adopt the Chair’s proposal.”

Ligado's takings complaint against the federal government (see 2310130003) mistakenly treats its L-band license as company property, contrary to legal precedent, DOJ said in a motion to dismiss last week (docket 23-1797). Moreover, DOJ said Ligado's complaint before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, asserting the government is unlawfully trying to preclude the company from using its FCC-granted L-band license, doesn't allege authorized government action that could give rise to takings liability. In addition, DOJ said the federal claims court lacks jurisdiction and Ligado hasn't identified authorized government action precluding the company from actually using its modified license. Ligado can't plead the license lost all value, as it still authorizes mobile satellite service use. Moreover, the company can't claim any economic loss is permanent, said the motion. Ligado emailed Friday that as it set out in its lawsuit, "government officials deliberately deprived [it] of its rightfully licensed property, and the government must be held accountable. This attack on an American business by the world’s most powerful institution is contrary to the rule of law and antithetical to the government’s years-long support for the deployment of 5G technology as a vital national priority. We worked diligently and in good faith with government agencies to find a fair resolution but were left with no choice but to pursue litigation to defend our interests."

Kirkland & Ellis topped the ranks of M&A legal advisers in the telecom, media and tech sector in North America in 2023, advising on 121 deals worth $144.1 billion, GlobalData said Wednesday. In addition, it said Morgan Stanley and Houlihan Lokey were the top TMT M&A financial advisers based on value and volume. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs each had more than $100 billion in deal value last year, while Houlihan Lokey's 62 deals made it the only one to have advised on more than 50 deals during the year, said GlobalData.

The FCC on Thursday asked for applications by Feb. 12 to serve on the FCC’s World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee (WAC) for the 2027 WRC. The WAC coordinates industry positions as the U.S. prepares for the conference. “The Commission seeks applications from interested organizations, institutions, or other entities from both the public and private sectors that wish to be considered for membership on the Committee,” the FCC said: “Selections will be based on factors such as expertise and diversity of viewpoints that are necessary to address effectively the questions before the Committee.”

Partnerships between mobile carriers and satellite companies now cover 2 billion subscribers worldwide, including in developing markets, said Tim Hatt, head-research and consulting at GSMA Intelligence, Monday during a Mobile World Live webinar. The footprint is “wide and it's deep, and we’re only going to see more of these [agreements] coming online,” he said. About 6%-7% of the world’s population still lives in areas not served by terrestrial wireless, including in high-income countries, Hatt said. Satellite operators have served ships for more than 20 years, but the cost has always been high, he said. But they are “really coming down,” which makes service “a lot more accessible,” he said. Satellite IoT is seeing growth for logistics, as well as in cars, precision agriculture, mining, oil and gas production and in other areas where connections are hard to reach through terrestrial networks, he said. Carriers see potential growth in revenue and “that underscores a lot of the commercial deal making we’re seeing taking place,” he said. Hatt predicted that the most common deals will be based on satellite operators providing backhaul and front-haul connectivity and mobile carriers controlling “the customer relationship,” though other business models are emerging. The “hype” about non-terrestrial service in the wireless industry “is becoming more and more real,” said Anirban Chakraborty, Comtech chief technology officer. The drive to standardization of satellite service as part of 5G through the 3rd Generation Partnership Project is important because it provides a common technology platform, he said. “There are technical challenges, regulatory challenges,” he said. Ubiquity of service has long been one of the biggest concerns for everyone in the telecom industry, Chakraborty said.

An FCC order establishing rules to prevent digital discrimination takes effect March 22, said a notice for Monday's Federal Register (see 2311150040). Commissioners adopted the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act-mandated rules in a 3-2 vote during the agency's November meeting.

Commerce Department and DOD officials will brief House Commerce Committee members Thursday on the findings of a Pentagon study about how commercial 5G use of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band would affect incumbent military systems, as expected (see 2312280044), Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, told us Wednesday. Panel Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and others were pressing for more details about the DOD report as they determine whether its findings justify ruling out an auction of the frequency (see 2311290001). House Commerce advanced its Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565) in May with language mandating an auction with an eye to using revenue to pay for other telecom projects (see 2305240069). Rodgers pressed Diane Rinaldo, Open RAN Policy Coalition executive director, during a Wednesday House Communications hearing (see 2401170078) on how the FCC’s lapsed spectrum auction authority, which House Commerce wants to restore via HR-3565, would bolster U.S. development of open radio access networks (ORANs). “If you want more ORAN, you need more spectrum,” said Rinaldo, a former acting NTIA administrator. “My members need consistency. They need an understanding of how their business is going to roll out the next couple of years. Coming to a standstill hurts us all and hurts future innovation.”

ACA Connects has again updated its broadband equity, access and deployment framework (see 2307180030), incorporating updated broadband map data. ACA Connects said Wednesday the data indicates 6.4 million unserved and underserved locations will be eligible for BEAD funding, and that fiber should reach at least 71% of eligible locations.

Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that NBC and CNN are “crooked, they’re dishonest and, frankly, they should have their licenses or whatever they have taken away” because the networks didn’t carry his victory speech after the Iowa caucuses for the 2024 Republican presidential election. The networks covered the speeches of other Republican presidential hopefuls from Iowa. The FCC didn’t comment, but the agency doesn’t issue licenses to cable channels or networks. “I was surprised that those networks didn’t carry Trump’s victory speech, but their right to choose to carry it or not is within their editorial discretion protected by the First Amendment,” said Free State Foundation President Randolph May. A station repeatedly refusing to carry a candidate’s speeches while treating other candidates differently could raise an issue of whether the FCC’s reasonable access rules were violated, May said. "The FCC is an independent agency for a reason. It never could and never should bow to such ridiculous threats from a would-be executive,” said Matt Wood, Free Press vice president-policy. “Of course, even his saber-rattling here is dangerous, and designed to chill freedom of the press and editorial discretion.” Last year, Trump promised NBCU’s parent Comcast would be scrutinized for “treason” if he becomes president again (see 2309290042). Trump made similar comments against media companies many times during his presidency. Trump’s FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said then that the agency lacks the authority to rescind broadcast licenses based on their content (see 1809040051). Comcast, CNN parent Warner Bros. Discovery, NAB, NCTA and all five FCC commissioners didn’t comment Wednesday.

More than 200 artists, including authors Neil Gaiman and Cory Doctorow and singer/songwriters Tom Morello and Kimya Dawson, signed an open letter backing the FCC's pending net neutrality proceeding. "Net neutrality protections ensure that we get to decide what we do online, without interference from companies we pay to get online, like Verizon and Comcast," they said in the letter, which organizers Fight for the Future and Demand Progress released Tuesday. "That means they can’t block, throttle, favor or try to extract payments from online services."