Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
The Wireless Microphone Spectrum Alliance (WMSA) met with FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff about several regulatory changes the group is seeking, including in a filing in the “Delete” proceeding. Among the topics discussed was the group’s request “to remove the arbitrary and unnecessarily restrictive” 50 low-power auxiliary station device eligibility threshold for a Part 74 license, said a filing posted Friday in docket 25-133. The requirement “originated in 2012 and was based on a forecast of TV whitespace device deployment which has proved overly optimistic, rendering the rule entirely unnecessary and restrictive.”
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
CTIA told the FCC there appears to be broad agreement (see 2504210013) that the commission should move carefully as it considers changes to wireless emergency alerts, which were proposed in a February Further NPRM. Replies were due Monday in dockets 15-94 and 15-91. The FNPRM proposed allowing more flexibility in issuing alerts using a “Public Safety Message” classification (see 2502270042).
The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau has ordered voice service provider Flowroute to immediately stop carrying spoofed jury duty scam calls on its network, said a news release and letter Friday. “The company faces a permanent block of all traffic on its network if it does not comply,” the release said. Flowroute allegedly transmitted spoofed calls to Cook County Illinois residents from someone impersonating an employee of the county sheriff’s office. “A law enforcement imposter told residents they had missed jury duty and must send money to the caller via a Coinstar kiosk at a local grocery store,” the release said. “Between July 23 and August 2, 2024, Flowroute originated 240 spoofed calls using the Cook County Sheriff’s Number,” the release said. The FCC’s traceback consortium, the Industry Traceback Group, tracked the calls to Flowroute, and Flowroute told the agency the calls came from “an entity named Llama Soft Pty. located in Sydney, Australia,” the release said. “The apparently illegal calls are the subject of the FCC’s ongoing investigation.”
The biggest criticisms of BEAD -- its timeline and complexity of the grant-approval process -- were crafted to deliver timely benefits while still meeting statutory imperatives that originated through bipartisan consensus, former NTIA senior adviser Tim Stelzig wrote Wednesday. Although there has been little BEAD deployment work since the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act became law in late 2021, BEAD isn't a good example "of an outsized bureaucratic preference for process," despite some critics painting it that way, he said.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
SpaceX could be the biggest beneficiary as the FCC takes a hard look at EchoStar's compliance with milestones attached to its 5G network buildout. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's inquiry into EchoStar's compliance with buildout deadlines (see 2505120074) "clearly originate[s]" from SpaceX, LightShed Partners' Walt Piecyk wrote Tuesday. He said the FCC probe appears to be particularly focused on EchoStar's use of the S band -- spectrum real estate that SpaceX wants.
The Voice on the Net Coalition told the FCC that it backs the use of Stir/Shaken to counter robocalls and robotexts but has concerns about know-your-customer (KYC) obligations “and the potential for significant fines for violations of what is obviously a vague standard.” These obligations shouldn't be “defined through enforcement actions,” VON said in a filing posted Monday (docket 17-59).
An ATSC 3.0 tuner mandate and a set date for the switch to the new standard are necessary for TV broadcasting to survive and compete with streaming, said Sinclair, Scripps, Gray and others in comments filed in response to NAB’s 3.0 petition in docket 16-142 by Wednesday’s deadline. The Consumer Technology Association, public interest organizations and multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) groups disagreed, arguing that a mandatory transition would increase costs for consumers and MVPDs, all to provide broadcasters with a new revenue stream.