The FCC is making available an extra $3.08 billion for carriers to remove Chinese gear from their networks under the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, a notice in Wednesday’s Daily Digest said. Congress approved the funding last year, to be paid for through the upcoming AWS-3 reauction. The Wireline Bureau notice said the Treasury Department transferred the money to the FCC to fully fund the rip-and-replace program.
Communications Daily is tracking the below lawsuits involving appeals of FCC actions.
The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) supported proposals in a January FCC NPRM providing spectrum for drones and the advanced air mobility (AAM) industries (see 2501170023). Electric utilities and other commenters supported AUVSI's position. The FCC proposed flexible use of the 450 MHz band for drones and permitting radiolocation operations in the 24.45–24.65 GHz band. The FCC also sought comment on “modernizing” rules governing commercial aviation air-ground systems. Comments were due this week in docket 24-629.
The FCC’s pressure campaign against corporate diversity initiatives lacks a clear basis in the rules and isn’t likely to fare well if it is tested in the courts, said panelists during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday.
The FCC Space Bureau should sign off on Globalstar's C-3 constellation petition without a new 1.6/2.4 GHz spectrum bands rulemaking, company representatives told bureau staff and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's office, said a filing Tuesday. Globalstar said the 1.6/2.4 GHz mobile satellite service licensing framework "has been an extraordinary success," adding that it "has made the most" of its small bit of spectrum and the framework isn't in need of modification. SpaceX has argued for a 1.6/2.4 GHz rulemaking before a C-3 approval (see 2410020029). Meeting with the bureau and Carr's office, Globalstar reiterated its argument about the lack of room for a new operator in the 1.6/2.4 GHz band (see 2503180022). It said SpaceX's mega-constellation or another new entrant "would inevitably cause extensive harmful interference to Globalstar’s licensed services," and initiating a rulemaking could discourage the planning and investment needed to develop C-3.
The FCC Wireline Bureau approved Tuesday the withdrawal of the Catasauqua Area School District in Pennsylvania from the FCC’s schools and libraries cybersecurity pilot program. The district said it recognizes the importance of the program but lacks the financial support to continue.
TelAlaska Cellular asked the FCC for a six-month extension, from May 21 to Nov. 21, to rip and replace unsecure equipment in its network. The provider warned that it had to dial back service as a result of funding issues. TelAlaska “is a small rural provider tasked with replacing covered equipment at 28 geographically dispersed sites across thousands of miles, many of which are subject to extreme logistical, accessibility, and weather-related challenges,” said a filing Tuesday in docket 18-89. The carrier said it has completed removal and replacement activities at all 28 sites, using the 40% reimbursement allocation it has received so far. Temporary tower solutions were deployed at five locations, the carrier said: “As a result, our Company is currently serving a smaller geographic coverage area than it previously served.”
Starry CEO Alex Moulle-Berteaux and other company executives met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks about the importance of the lower 37 GHz band. The company supports a draft order on the band proposed for a vote at the April 27 FCC meeting (see 2504070054), said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 24-243. “As Starry has explained on the record many times over the years, this band represents a unique opportunity for the Commission to create a sharing structure that envisions co-equal sharing between commercial users and federal users on equal footing,” the filing said. The band provides “a unique opportunity for innovative use cases to operate in licensed millimeter wave spectrum, enabling the use of higher power deployments to help overcome the atmospheric attenuation in these high frequencies."
The FCC on Tuesday approved an experimental special temporary authorization for AST SpaceMobile to conduct testing with FirstNet of its direct-to-device satellite connectivity in the 758-768 MHz and 788-79 MHz bands. AST said it will test off-the-shelf cellular handsets acting as mobile earth stations inside FirstNet's Band 14.
Critics of T-Mobile’s proposed buy of wireless assets from UScellular spoke with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to elaborate on their concerns. The groups at the meeting were the Rural Wireless Association, Communications Workers of America, Public Knowledge, New America’s Open Technology Institute and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Joined by EchoStar, the same groups also met with aides to Commissioner Anna Gomez.