A news distortion complaint filed Wednesday against CBS by the Center for American Rights (CAR) over the network's recent interview with Vice President/Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is unlikely to result in FCC penalties. However, a wild card is the proposed Skydance/Paramount deal, which could spark FCC action on the news distortion complaint, attorneys told us. Paramount Global is CBS' parent.
The FCC's mapping broadband health in America platform will soon include additional details on telehealth access and maternal health, the Connect2Health Task Force told commissioners during their open meeting Thursday (see 2409250041). While the FCC has adopted rules requiring georouting wireless calls to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, it's uncertain whether it will require georouting to other emergency helplines, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said during a news conference following the meeting. The 5-0 988 georouting approval was expected (see 2410040005). Commissioners also unanimously voted for adoption of an order on hearing aid compatibility requirements (see 2410170030) and tentatively selected applicants for new low-power FM station construction permits.
FCC commissioners on Thursday approved 5-0 a draft hearing-aid compatibility order providing details on how the U.S. will reach 100% compatibility. FCC officials said the order included a few tweaks, accommodating commissioners' concerns and those of CTIA (see 2410090051) and disability advocates (see 2410150024). Commissioners voted at their monthly open meeting (see 2410170026), which was focused on consumer items. It was the last before the Nov. 5 election.
SES' proposed $3.1 billion purchase of Intelsat (see 2404300048) won't mean greater concentration in media content distribution, as their customers already have numerous options for distributing content to consumers aside from C-band satellite distribution, the two told the FCC Wednesday in docket 24-267. Instead, New SES would be better able to compete with those other options, they said. The agency should reject any proposed conditions that would jeopardize C-band media distribution, they added. NAB took no position on SES/Intelsat or conditions but said it backed NCTA's urging that the FCC consider the impact the transaction would have on quality and cost of C-band satellite services (see 2410010018).
A coalition of 14 states challenging an FCC order on incarcerated people's communication services asked the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a filing Monday not to transfer the case to the 1st Circuit (docket 24-2983). The states sought reconsideration of the order's per-minute rate caps for intrastate services (see 2410020039). They argued that the order at issue, which was published in the Federal Register Sept. 20, wasn't the same as the order published Aug. 26, which addressed petitions from several groups. If the court determines the orders are the same, the states asked that the transfer be stayed until the 1st Circuit rules on Securus' motion to transfer its challenge to the 5th Circuit.
Maine’s phone number conservation efforts are paying off, the Public Utilities Commission said Wednesday. A North American numbering plan administrator's (NANPA) semi-annual review of area code exhaustion dates showed that the state's single area code (207) added 2.5 years to its expected lifespan, the Maine PUC said. The area code is expected to reach exhaustion in 2036. “The Commission is very active in a number of conservation efforts, working with companies to ensure they get the telephone numbers they need, while asking other companies to return numbers they don’t need,” said Chair Philip Bartlett. The Maine PUC is working with telcos, the FCC, NANPA and the North American Numbering Council “on strategies to extend the entire numbering system, not just Maine,” added Bartlett. It wasn’t the first extension for the Maine area code’s exhaustion date. Back in January 2001, the code was expected to expire in 2024.
GCI Communications filed a redacted letter at the FCC on its pursuit of a plan to pay for 5G deployment in Alaska (see 2407230013). GCI and the Brattle Group are developing a model that estimates the incremental cost of providing mobile broadband service to Alaska residents. “The results of the updated model continue to confirm that deploying 5G to all Broadband Serviceable Locations in Alaska at 35/3 Mbps (average) and 7/1 Mbps (edge) by the end of the Alaska Connect Fund term would require substantially more universal service support,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-238.
Q Link Wireless CEO Issa Asad faces years in prison and a fine of more than $100 million after pleading guilty to fraud tied to the FCC’s Lifeline program. Asad also pleaded guilty to money laundering through the COVID-19-era Paycheck Protection Program. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on Wednesday welcomed the guilty pleas. Dania Beach, Florida-based Q Link offers coverage throughout the U.S. Asad and Q Link “engaged in multiple tricks designed to mislead the FCC about how many people were actually using Q Link’s Lifeline phones, and to prevent customers who did not want the phones from ending their relationship with Q Link (which would have prevented Q Link from billing the program for them),” said a DOJ news release: “The Defendants manufactured non-existent cellphone activity and engaged in coercive marketing techniques to get people to remain Q Link customers.” Asad admitted that he received approximately $15 million from Q Link as a result of the fraud. Asad’s plea agreement includes a joint recommendation that he serve the statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison on the fraud charge, the DOJ said. The statutory maximum sentence on the money laundering charge is 10 years. “Asad’s exact sentence will be determined by the Court after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors,” DOJ said. U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz set a sentencing hearing for Jan. 15. “Deceptive schemes that exploit at-risk communities and manipulate federal support for phone and broadband services should not go unpunished,” Rosenworcel said. Asad and Q Link “purposefully defrauded two critical federal programs helping individuals and businesses suffering financial hardship, unlawfully taking hundreds of millions of dollars for their own use and profit, while obstructing the United States’ ability to help people who, unlike the Defendants, needed it,” said Markenzy Lapointe, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
Verizon and Frontier this week filed an application at the FCC that would transfer control of the domestic and international Section 214 authority held by wholly owned subsidiaries of Frontier to the acquiring company. As part of the filing, the companies provided a public interest statement, a key document as regulators plow through details of the proposed transaction. The deal faces potential investor headwinds.