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.
What the Trump administration's tariffs will mean for the communications sector remains murky (see 2504030056). On Thursday, the administration announced a deal with the U.K., the first of what it said will be multiple trade agreements.
The Consumer Technology Association wants House and Senate Commerce committee leadership to oppose NAB’s petition to the FCC on the ATSC 3.0 transition, CTA CEO Gary Shapiro said in a letter to legislators Tuesday. The letter was sent to Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and House Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J. Comments on the NAB petition were due Wednesday in docket 16-142.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
UL Solutions asked the FCC to further extend the deadline from May 3 to June 13 to complete its initial work as lead administrator in the agency’s voluntary cyber trust mark program (see 2503040062). The Public Safety Bureau previously extended the original March deadline by 60 days (see 2503050025).