Not taking full advantage of the various global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals available harms the U.S. "at no cost to America's foreign adversaries," authors said in an Apple-funded white paper filed at the FCC Tuesday (docket 25-110). John Raquet, senior vice president at Integrated Solutions for Systems, and Terry Burruss, a former senior intelligence officer in the CIA's Directorate of Digital Innovation, said that for internet-assisted navigation and timing systems, having access to multiple GNSS signals carries little risk. Allowing access to multiple GNSS constellations also lets U.S. companies compete better, they said. Investing in GPS "is paramount," but adopting open access to GNSS signals "will allow the U.S. to continue to lead in GNSS-related technology, as it has since the inception of GPS."
Satellogic told the FCC Space Bureau on Monday that it was withdrawing its application seeking authorization for a planned 120-satellite X-band earth exploration service constellation (see 2403080002). The company didn't elaborate.
With Comcast and Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network having reached a carriage agreement Monday, YES is withdrawing its program carriage complaint against Comcast and its motion for a temporary injunction to head off a blackout (see 2503310020), the network said Tuesday (docket 12-1). Writing on X late Monday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr applauded the carriage deal: "Going dark wouldn’t have been in anyone’s interest."
Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien met with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to urge that the agency memorialize Skydance Media's pro-worker commitments in any approval of Skydance buying Paramount Global, said a filing Tuesday in docket 24-275. Barring that, the FCC should encourage the parties to agree on protecting workers post-transaction, the Teamsters said. The union said it hasn't heard from Skydance about union proposals such as "applying Paramount's current collective bargaining agreement to all New Paramount employees." Multiple unions have pressed the FCC to codify labor-related promises Skydance has made (see 2411010034).
The FCC Wireless Bureau on Tuesday approved 12 additional licenses in the 900 MHz broadband segment for PDV Spectrum, all in Texas. The FCC approved an order five years ago reallocating a 6 MHz swath in the band for broadband while maintaining 4 MHz for narrowband operations (see 2005130057).
Sytel, which sells dialer and contact center products, updated FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on its proposal (see 2502100021) that the agency rethink Telephone Consumer Protection Act rules to focus on “dialing outcomes” rather than the dialing method used. Automated dialing can be deployed without harming consumers, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 02-278.
Verizon representatives urged the FCC to ignore the Coalition for IP Transition's March filing, which raised concerns about Verizon’s proposed acquisition of Frontier. The coalition complained that Verizon and other local exchange carriers “refuse to interconnect on an IP-basis, despite offering IP services to other customers.” The coalition said the transaction “would not yield direct benefits for access customers.”
Consumers’ Research has filed another challenge to the legality of the FCC’s USF contribution factor, this time for Q2 of this year, at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The group chose what's likely the friendliest circuit for an appeal; the U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering an appeal of a 5th Circuit en banc decision last summer, which found that the USF contribution factor is a "misbegotten tax.” Justices heard oral arguments in that case last week (see 2503260061).
In comments posted Tuesday about competitive bidding procedures for the upcoming AWS-3 auction, CTIA opposed a tribal window that could allow tribes to obtain spectrum to serve some of the least connected communities in the U.S. The tribes pushed back firmly in their filings. Other commenters called for rules that would give smaller providers a better chance to succeed in the auction, which will offer licenses returned to the FCC by affiliates of Dish Network in 2023 and unsold licenses from the initial AWS-3 auction 10 years ago (see 2501230041). Comments were due Monday in docket 25-70 (see 2503110061).
T-Mobile and EQT closed a deal to buy stakes in fiber-to-the-home provider Lumos, the companies said Tuesday. The launch of the joint venture follows the FCC’s approval of the underlying transaction last week (see 2503280023). T-Mobile is investing $950 million for a 50% stake in the joint venture, with plans for an additional $500 million investment in 2027-28. T-Mobile said when the deal was announced last April (see 2404250047) that it hoped it could be finalized in late 2024 or early 2025.