The FCC should be applauded for using the direct final rule (DFR) as a tool to quickly do away with archaic rules on its books, Free State Foundation President Randolph May wrote Friday. The idea of agencies using the DFR that way has been around for decades, and now the FCC is embracing the approach, May said. Under the DFR process, there's still an opportunity for public comment, he noted, and adjustments can be made to ensure that serious, substantive objections are properly considered. A split FCC in July adopted an order clarifying that its bureaus have authority to delete rules under the DFR process without commission votes (see 2507240055).
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced Thursday he has named Enforcement Bureau Chief Technology Officer Andy Hendrickson as chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology. He replaces acting Chief Ira Keltz, who returns to deputy chief. Hendrickson joined the FCC last year after nearly a decade at Verizon, where he was most recently a senior director of the provider’s cloud platform. Historically, most chief engineers get the job after long service within OET. Keltz had been at the FCC for 30 years before he was tapped as acting chief last year, replacing Ron Repasi (see 2410030057).
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies at Dish Network must end, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Thursday. Speaking with reporters at the agency's August meeting, Carr said he has "been very clear to regulated entities that they should be ending their own promotion of invidious forms of DEI discrimination." Advocacy group Consumers' Research has criticized Dish for alleged DEI policies (see 2507240042) and this week urged Carr and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate. Noting FCC investigations regarding DEI activity at Comcast and Verizon (see 2503280038), Carr said such engagement "has proven to be successful in making sure they're complying" with the agency's equal opportunity policies. "So whether it's Dish or anyone else, we would expect them to come to compliance with the FCC's approach." Dish parent EchoStar didn't comment.
A broad group of local governments and associations on Wednesday protested the FCC’s direct final rule (DFR) order that commissioners approved 2-1 last month, with a dissent from Commissioner Anna Gomez (see 2507240055). The order clarified that the FCC’s bureaus have delegated authority to delete rules under the process without commission votes.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said Wednesday that, despite concerns, she voted for a notice of inquiry to study revisions in how the FCC examines competition in its Telecom Act Section 706 reports to Congress. Commissioners approved the NOI earlier in the week, and it was taken off the agenda for Thursday’s meeting (see 2508050056). While Gomez’s comments on the NOI were predominantly negative, she said she voted yes to give the public a chance to weigh in.
States and territories can't set forth a specific rate for a low-cost service option in BEAD, even if that rate is required by state law, according to new NTIA guidance issued Tuesday. The agency's 63-page FAQ document on BEAD covers an array of topics, including whether subgrantees can use BEAD-funded facilities to provide other offerings, such as telephone and video (they can), and how applicants are supposed to track their 2% administrative costs.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision limiting the scope of environmental reviews in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado is very broad in its impact, said Venable’s Jay Johnson, who represented the coalition in the case. The decision (see 2506180059) doesn’t apply only to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) enforcement in regard to new railroad projects, “this applies to NEPA as a whole,” Johnson said during an Incompas webinar Thursday. “The court made that exceptionally clear.”
The FCC hasn’t experienced a large-scale workforce reduction and can still operate despite a roughly 6% decrease in staff between October and May, Chairman Brendan Carr said in letters to Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md. Sent at the beginning of May, the letters were posted Thursday by the FCC. Carr was replying to March letters from Cantwell and Hoyer expressing concern about the effects of staff cuts and the involvement of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at the FCC.
EchoStar is again making previously delayed interest payments to holders of company notes as it said it continues to try to address issues with the FCC. In an SEC filing Wednesday, EchoStar said it was paying the interest originally due July 1 on 2026 and 2028 notes. Beyond its talks with the FCC, the company said it's engaged in "wide-ranging efforts to explore alternative or complementary pathways that could, if successfully implemented, resolve the FCC’s stated concerns in a manner acceptable to the Company."
The FCC announced that its new Consumer Protection and Accessibility Advisory Committee (CPAAC) will meet for the first time Sept. 10 at 9 a.m. at FCC headquarters. Chairman Brendan Carr appointed Elizabeth Hill, board member-at-large of the National Association of State Agencies for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and Logan Kolas, director of technology at the American Consumer Institute, as co-chairs.