The FCC Wireline Bureau last week approved T-Mobile’s buy of a stake in fiber-based provider Metronet as part of a joint venture with investment firm KKR. The proposed deal was announced a year ago (see 2407240020). The approval came after T-Mobile agreed to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs that the Trump administration targeted (see 2507090034).
The FCC didn't see widespread, significant disruption of communications networks related to the deadly Texas floods over the Fourth of July weekend, but the agency is looking at "issues here and there," Chairman Brendan Carr said Tuesday. Speaking on the radio show O'Connor & Company on WMAL-FM Woodbridge, Virginia, Carr also criticized the lack of BEAD-related construction under the Biden administration and said his Build America agenda, announced last week (see 2507020036), "looks to turn that around." The next month or so will see the BEAD program "completely reset," with new construction coming "pretty soon," he added.
A coalition of 22 states filed a lawsuit seeking to reverse the Trump administration's sweeping freeze on federal grants and loans. The outcome of the lawsuit will "probably" affect NTIA's Digital Equity Act (DEA) grant programs, said Andrew Schwartzman, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society's senior counselor. "The qualification is that the government hasn't filed anything yet, and there are no motions or other pleadings that expand on what is said in the complaint," he said. The administration ended the $2.5 billion DEA grant program in May, causing states to cancel all contracts that would have used that money (see 2505090051).
The FCC Public Safety Bureau on Tuesday provided extra time for comments on a next-generation 911 Further NPRM that commissioners approved 4-0 in March (see 2503270042). Initial comments are now due Aug. 4, instead of July 21, and replies Sept. 17, instead of Aug. 18. The National Emergency Number Association and the National Association of State 911 Administrators had asked for a 120-day delay for both initial comments and replies, the bureau said. While it didn't grant the full 120 days, it said “a moderate extension” of the initial comment deadline “will provide additional time for parties to organize and coordinate their input to the Commission.” In addition, increasing the interval between initial comments and replies creates “an expanded window for collaborative discussions among parties after the initial comments have been filed.”
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies urged the FCC on Monday to take additional steps to ensure that devices from Chinese companies aren’t sold in the U.S. The agency’s 2022 order preventing the sale of yet-to-be authorized equipment (see 2211230065) has gaps, the group said in a report posted in docket 21-232.
Lawyers at Cooley warned that the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent 6-3 decision in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, a much-watched case about the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, will mean increased uncertainty for both sides in future TCPA cases (see 2506200053). SCOTUS ruled that, despite the Hobbs Act, lower courts have authority to examine agencies' decisions, including those of the FCC. The case provides “expanded opportunity to challenge FCC rulings," said Cooley's Tuesday blog post.
AT&T said its network wasn’t to blame for problems on a call with faith leaders that provoked the fury of President Donald Trump (see 2506300060). “Our initial analysis indicates the disruption was caused by an issue with the conference call platform, not our network,” AT&T said on X late Monday. “Unfortunately, this caused the delay, and we are working diligently to better understand the issue so we can prevent disruptions in the future.”
The FCC’s Broadband Data Task Force announced that the seventh broadband data collection (BDC) filing window for submitting broadband availability and other data will open Tuesday. The June 2025 update of the broadband serviceable location fabric is also being made available to existing fabric licensees, the task force said Monday. “The Fabric serves as the foundation for the collection of fixed broadband availability data in the BDC,” it said. “The updated Fabric is being made available to Fabric licensees and must be used by filers of fixed broadband availability for their availability data as of June 30.”
Urban rate surveys are due Aug. 15, said the FCC Office of Economics and Analytics and Wireline Bureau in a public notice Friday (docket 10-90). Providers required to complete the online survey, which identifies rates for fixed voice and broadband residential services in urban areas, will be contacted on or around July 7, it said.
AT&T's proposed $177 million settlement stemming from 2019 and 2024 data breaches shows that multifactor authentication isn't optional, cybersecurity expert Joe Vadakkan wrote last week. In the 2024 incident, hackers penetrated AT&T's Snowflake cloud system using credentials that didn't have MFA and made off with customers' call and text metadata, he said. "Weak credential protections" made the hack possible, he added. "Supply chain vigilance is critical," as the Snowflake breach came via "internal compromises." The settlement received preliminary approval in U.S. District Court earlier this month.