The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday scheduled oral argument for March 26 in the government’s challenge of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' 9-7 en banc decision last year that sided with Consumers' Research and found that the USF contribution factor is a "misbegotten tax.” SCOTUS agreed in November to hear what some see as the most consequential FCC case in years (see 2412100060). Members of Congress, former FCC commissioners, ISPs and public interest groups are among those urging SCOTUS to overturn the 5th Circuit decision.
The Competitive Carriers Association challenged parts of the FCC’s 5G Fund order in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, seeking changes to the rules the agency adopted under former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel (see 2408290041). Current Chairman Brendan Carr voted against the order, arguing that the fund should be launched only after the BEAD program plays out and money is awarded. CCA and the Rural Wireless Association voiced concerns when the order was approved in August.
Minority Television Project has reached a $25,000 settlement with the FCC over filing violations by KMTP-TV San Francisco, its noncommercial educational station, said a consent decree in Friday’s Daily Digest. KMTP filed its issues/programs list late, failed to report that violation to the FCC, and then was also untimely in filing its license renewal application, the consent decree said. Under the terms of the decree, the agency has granted KMTP’s license renewal for two years, during which time the station is required to implement a compliance plan and new training procedures.
The FCC has added additional video to the CBS news distortion docket (25-73), said a public notice Friday (see 2502050063). “Placement of this additional material in the docket will allow for the development of a more comprehensive record and enhance public input.” The additional video appears to be further footage of the 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris that CBS released Wednesday. “The inclusion of this additional material in the record does not change the pleading cycle or filing procedures,” the notice said.
The Public Safety Spectrum Alliance asked the FCC to reject a petition from the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District requesting that the FCC stay a requirement that 4.9 GHz licensees provide the agency with granular licensing data by June 9 or face cancelation of its licenses (see 2501290032). The PSSA said the petition has no more merit than one from the National Sheriffs’ Association and the California State Sheriffs’ Association (see 2501300025). “Even if Petitioner’s substantive arguments had some merit, which they do not, it is not entitled to a stay because it does not come close to demonstrating that it will suffer irreparable harm absent a stay,” said a filing Thursday in docket 07-100. The transit system's “purported injury” is based on concerns that its license will prohibit expansion of its 4.9 GHz operations and that it would be costly for it to collect and present the data concerning its existing operations, PSSA said. “But the Commission’s express statement that it will entertain waiver requests from licensees seeking to expand operations renders any possible injury speculative -- and provides a path for a remedy, should such alleged injury occur.”
The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials urged the FCC to make technical changes to rules for the 4.9 GHz band, including increasing the equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) limits to make the band more attractive for 5G. “More work is left to be done, and time is of the essence,” APCO said in a filing last week in docket 07-100. “To achieve its intent to promote innovation in the 4.9 GHz band, the Commission should ensure that the technical rules for the 4.9 GHz band align with the standards in the global marketplace,” APCO said. The group requested, among other changes, a base station maximum EIRP in the 4.9 GHz band of 3,280 watts/MHz and raising the maximum conducted output power of emissions outside the licensee’s authorized bandwidth to -13 dBm/MHz. APCO said the FCC needs to move quickly, so that the rule changes can be incorporated into the 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s Release 19, which is expected in September. If not part of that release, “5G deployments may be significantly delayed, well into 2028, frustrating the Commission’s overarching goal of providing public safety users with access to innovative technologies in the near-term.”
Fixing copper cable vandalism damage at a wire center in suburban Seattle-Tacoma will take more time, CenturyLink told the FCC Friday (docket 24-293). It sought 60 additional days for its requested emergency impairment of service given repeated vandalism. It said it needs to evaluate whether to restore the cable, find a cable placement alternative or discontinue the impacted service.
AT&T sought additional time to complete restoration work in parts of California damaged by last summer’s Park Fire. It asked to have until April 19. In addition, the carrier requested that the FCC continue the suspension of its interstate telecommunications services in a “small” part of the state. “AT&T continues to diligently work to restore service, but due to the scale of the damage to AT&T’s facilities, the remote nature of the affected locations, and delays related to winter weather, portions of AT&T’s network remain out of service,” said a filing last week in docket 24-331. AT&T initially filed for a suspension of service in September.
Foundation for American Innovation Senior Fellow Evan Swarztrauber, a former FCC policy adviser to Chairman Ajit Pai, urged the Senate on Thursday night to “quickly confirm” Republican FTC nominee Mark Meador. President Donald Trump announced plans in December, before taking office, to nominate Meador, a former antitrust staffer for Senate Antitrust Subcommittee ranking member Mike Lee, R-Utah, to the FTC seat of then-Chairwoman Lina Khan (see 2412100073). For Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress “to succeed in their goals of supercharging the economy and unleashing technological innovation, America needs a strong [FTC, and] Meador’s confirmation would deliver a Republican majority at the agency,” Swarztrauber said in an opinion piece for the Washington Reporter. “Meador’s impressive resume makes him the perfect candidate for the moment,” including his role as a Lee aide in writing legislation “to break Google’s monopoly over the advertising technology market.” Meador “understands well the challenges posed by Big Tech, where consumer harms are often shrouded in opaque terms of service and ‘freemium’ business models that hide monopoly rents behind sleek user interfaces,” Swarztrauber said.
Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Jim Banks, R-Ind., asked the FCC Thursday to investigate foreign entities of concern (FEOC) “that broadcast on U.S. airwaves to determine if those entities pose a significant national security risk to the American public, and use existing FCC authorities to deter future partnerships between FEOCs and television networks.” Banks and Scott cited a trio of ads for Chinese retail application Temu during the 2024 Super Bowl broadcast where the company “offered $15 million worth of giveaways on their questionable products. Temu is known to flood the United States with cheap goods produced by forced labor in [China] while exploiting the de-minimis loophole to avoid enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act.” U.S. broadcasters “should not platform [Chinese Communist Party] -linked companies who actively violate U.S. laws and do not comply with the same standards as U.S. manufacturers,” the senators said in a letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. They noted that the U.S. Trade Representative’s office has repeatedly placed Temu's China-based parent company, Pinduoduo, on its notorious markets list for intellectual property theft, “copyright piracy, and selling counterfeit goods.”