The U.S. Supreme Court's 2005 Brand X decision "remains binding" on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals "under established principles of stare decisis as to all issues the Supreme Court decided in that case," the FCC said in a supplemental brief Friday (docket 24-7000). The court temporarily stayed the FCC's net neutrality order until Aug. 5 (see 2407120052). Brand X held that the Communications Act "gives the FCC authority to classify and regulate broadband service," the agency said. The FCC said the court "remains bound by Brand X" regardless of whether petitioners disagree with the ruling. "Insofar as petitioners now seek to forever freeze in time the former Title I approach, they are not asking the court to respect the Brand X decision under principles of stare decisis, but instead to countermand it," the FCC said. CTIA, USTelecom, NCTA, ACA Connects, the Wireless ISP Association and several state telecom associations said in a joint supplemental brief that Brand X​​​​​​​'s holding "now dooms the commission's rule." They said that the court "may not accept the commission's new, contrary conclusion that broadband is solely" a telecom service. "Even if Brand X​​​​​​​did not require this court to reject the commission's argument as a matter of statutory stare decisis , it still supports petitioners' arguments that the best reading of the 1996 Act is that broadband is an information service," the coalition said.

The FCC Precision Agriculture Task Force will meet in person Aug. 14 at 10 a.m. at FCC headquarters, a notice in Tuesday's Federal Register said (see 2401310010). Attendees will hear updates from working group leadership and discuss the task force's executive summary for its report to the FCC about facilitating broadband deployment on agricultural land.

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has received 10 million contacts since it was instituted, with text traffic representing 1.7 million of them, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Tuesday marked the two-year anniversary of the three-digit number's launch (see 2207150036). HHS said since 988’s expansion of services for Spanish speakers, LGBTQ youth and young adults, it has received 20,000 Spanish texts and chats and more than 475,000 LGBTQ youth calls, texts and chats. The Veterans Crisis Line received 1.2 million calls via 988, it noted. Nearly $1.5 billion in federal funding has gone to 988, HHS said. In a call with media, HHS Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm said much of that funding went to states, tribes and territories for hiring crisis contact center counselors and expanding services.

The FCC deactivated its disaster information reporting system (DIRS) for Hurricane Beryl at Texas' request, the agency announced Sunday. Communications providers will no longer need to report the status of cellular networks in DIRS in connection with this event. The FCC said it will continue monitoring the status of communications services and work with providers and government partners to support remaining restoration efforts in the area. The Mandatory Disaster Response Initiative remains in effect for the areas of Texas that Hurricane Beryl struck when it reached land July 8.

The FCC and Department of Education will hold a webinar July 23 to provide information on the three-year, $200 million cybersecurity pilot program for schools and libraries that commissioners approved 3-2 in June (see 2406060043). The webinar starts at 2 p.m. EDT and also offers information on “other federal cybersecurity resources available to schools and libraries,” a Monday notice from the Wireline Bureau said.

Roughly two in three people are aware of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, though only 23% say they are "somewhat familiar" with it, the National Alliance on Mental Illness said Monday. Three percent of Americans report they or a loved one contacted the Lifeline during a crisis, NAMI said. The data comes from 2,048 American adults surveyed in June. NAMI said that since the 988 Lifeline's July 2022 launch, it has had 10 million contacts. It said 10 states have or are implementing a per-line 988 fee that pays for Lifeline services.

All public safety answering points were back online Friday morning in the Texas areas that Hurricane Beryl hit, though three were having their calls rerouted, according to the FCC’s disaster information reporting system report (see 2407110060). It said cellular networks continue to improve. Just 10.6% of cellsites are reported down, an improvement from Thursday's 15%. In addition, it said 497,793 cable and wireline subscribers are without service, up from 455,820 the previous day. No AM stations were listed as out of service, an improvement from Thursday’s two; four FM stations, the same as Thursday, remained out.

The National Association of Surety Bond Producers and Surety & Fidelity Association of America released a broadband, equity, access and deployment program surety bond information kit Friday (see 2311090067). The first-of-its-kind document includes bond forms associated with NTIA's BEAD program for entities submitting surety bonds instead of letters of credit. "Broadband access is so crucial for communities to gain connections, information, and opportunities," said NASBP CEO Mark McCallum. The use of surety bonds "will ensure that these vital systems will be constructed and realized."

Nearly 15% of cellsites in the Texas area that Hurricane Beryl hit were down Thursday, an improvement from Wednesday’s 20%, according to the FCC’s disaster information reporting system report (see 2407100056). Eight public safety answering points are having their calls rerouted, one fewer than Wednesday. 455,820 cable and wireline subscribers are without service, an improvement from 527,700 the previous day. Four FMs and two AM stations were listed as out of service compared with Wednesday’s five FMs and one AM.

Six Texas counties remain in the disaster area of Hurricane Beryl, the FCC said in Wednesday’s disaster information reporting system report (see 2407090047). The alert encompasses Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris and Matagorda counties. Humble Police Department (Harris County) was down, the report said, and nine public safety answering points are having their calls rerouted. Nearly 20% of cellsites are reported down in the affected counties, an improvement from Tuesday’s 28.7%, and 527,700 cable and wireline subscribers are without service, an improvement from 803,501 on Tuesday. No TV stations were reported down, but five FMs and one AM station were listed as out of service. Tuesday's report listed two FM and two AM stations down.