The FCC "has become a convenient political tool [that] too often abandons its independence," and Chairman Brendan Carr should front efforts to dismantle it, wrote Mark Jamison, a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. The reasons it was created in 1934 "have disappeared," he said Friday, including regulation of the old Bell telephone monopoly and oversight of public airwaves. The agency's increased politicization is hurting investment, Jamison argued. Meanwhile, the Bell monopoly no longer exists, and many of the commission's consumer protection and equipment authorization functions could be done by other agencies, he said, adding that many of its jobs already overlap with other federal departments.

The FCC added a section to its Further NPRM seeking comment on whether correctional facilities should be allowed to jam cell signals, with an eye to preventing the use of contraband phones. Commissioners approved the NPRM Tuesday 3-0, with questions on a potential pilot program added at the request of Commissioner Anna Gomez (see 2509300063).

An NTIA spokesperson confirmed in an emailed statement Wednesday that the administration has terminated the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee, effective Tuesday (see 2509300065). “NTIA has determined that its limited resources must be focused on speedy and effective implementation of the spectrum provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and other NTIA priorities,” the spokesperson said. “NTIA appreciates the valuable contributions of the many dedicated experts who served on the committee over the past two decades.”

The U.S. “got lazy” in the last 15 or so years about participating in standards-setting bodies and paid the price with China dictating standards for 5G, said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., at SCTE’s TechExpo event Tuesday in Washington. “China flooded the zone,” he said, while the U.S. hasn't been sending as many people to standards-setting bodies. China’s 5G success is a “wake-up call,” and industry and government should agree that the U.S. has “got to get back in the game” and invest resources in standards-setting efforts.

The Trump administration Tuesday notified members of the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee that, after more than two decades, the committee is no more. “For those of you who are new members of CSMAC, we regret that you were unable to serve on the committee,” said an email sent to members. “Nonetheless, we are grateful for your willingness to contribute to an entity that has made numerous valuable contributions on important spectrum management topics over the years.” NTIA didn’t say why the committee was being terminated. The agency didn't immediately comment.

The FCC Office of Managing Director has revised on delegated authority its manner of ruling on regulatory fee waiver requests, according to a public notice in docket 25-219 Monday. In the past, OMD has resolved such requests by issuing individual letter decisions, but going forward, OMD will periodically issue public notices that list actions on all requests for waiver, reduction and/or deferral of fees, the PN said. “This change to our customary procedure implements the Commission’s goal of streamlining internal review processes and will enable OMD to more quickly resolve those matters while fulfilling its obligation to thoroughly review the record for each request and petition for reconsideration,” the PN said. More novel and controversial requests will still get letter decisions, OMD said. Monday’s PN included a list of OMD decisions on regulatory fee waiver requests for a host of entities, some from as far back as 2019. In a separate order, OMD also provided more detailed denials of a number of requests for financial hardship regulatory fee waivers. Petitions for reconsideration or applications for review of the decisions must be filed within 30 days, the order said.

Groups representing ISPs Monday asked the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear en banc an August decision upholding the FCC’s data breach notification rules, despite a Congressional Review Act action overturning similar requirements included with other privacy rules in 2017 (see 2508140052). Judge Jane Stranch wrote the 2-1 decision. Judge Richard Griffin dissented, saying the order was unlawful and should be set aside.

SpaceX and EchoStar filed documents at the FCC on Friday about their proposed $17 billion deal, announced earlier this month (see 2509080052). SpaceX will buy AWS-4 and H-block spectrum from EchoStar, while EchoStar's Boost Mobile subscribers will gain access to Starlink’s direct-to-cell (D2C) service. After the announcement, the FCC dropped two investigations of EchoStar for potentially violating FCC rules (see 2509090036).

Animated comedy show South Park’s episode Wednesday included segments lampooning FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and the controversy over the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! In the episode, a caricature of Carr falls down some stairs, gets buried in soiled cat litter and suffers violent diarrhea from eating poisoned soup. He then ends up in a hospital bed with broken bones and toxoplasmosis, which a doctor character says will take away Carr’s “freedom of speech.” The cartoon’s version of Vice President JD Vance then threatens Carr, telling him there's “an easy and a hard way” -- the same words Carr used when demanding that Kimmel be suspended or preempted last week. The FCC didn’t respond to a request for comment on the episode. South Park streams on Paramount Plus, which is owned by Skydance Paramount. The FCC has an open news distortion proceeding against Paramount-owned WCBS-TV New York, and Carr has said the agency will be scrutinizing the conduct of Skydance's broadcast stations (see 2508070027).

The attorneys general from 23 mostly Republican-dominated states this week supported a proposal by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to allow corrections officials to jam cellphone signals. Commissioners are slated to take up a Further NPRM at their meeting Tuesday (see 2509090060), and Carr has said he hopes new rules will be in place next year (see 2509050055). A week ahead of the meeting, only a few comments on the FNPRM have been posted in docket 13-111.