As the subject of two FCC probes, EchoStar has received backing from various industry groups and others, but it also faces new questions about how well it's complying with the terms of its 5G network buildout. That's according to docket 25-173 and 22-212 comments, which were due Tuesday in a pair of public notices: one on whether EchoStar is using the 2 GHz band for mobile satellite service (MSS), consistent with its authorizations, and the other seeking further comment on VTel Wireless' recon petition regarding an extension of EchoStar's 5G network buildout deadlines (see 2505130003).
The FCC should take “a second look” at reclassifying streaming platforms -- sometimes called virtual MVPDs -- as MVPDs and allow broadcasters more flexibility to consolidate, Commissioner Nathan Simington said Tuesday in a Daily Caller column co-authored with Gavin Wax, his chief of staff. “The Communications Act’s definition of a ‘channel’ must be expanded from covering spectrum to encompass digital distribution,” they wrote. “If it walks and talks like a broadcaster, it should be regulated like one.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau on Tuesday reversed four Universal Service Administrative Co. audit decisions denying reimbursements for Lifeline support that Verizon/Alltel provided to eligible residents of tribal lands in North Dakota and South Dakota in 2007. Verizon Wireless acquired Alltel Wireless in 2008.
Verizon representatives expressed general support for FCC rules covering an AWS-3 reauction (see 2504290007) in a meeting with agency staff, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 25-117. “We urged the FCC to move swiftly to get the AWS-3 spectrum in its inventory back into the marketplace after lying fallow for too long,” Verizon said. The meeting included personnel from the Office of Economics and Analytics and the Wireless Bureau.
NTIA filed at the FCC on Tuesday an “inventory” discussing the possible alternatives to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) and GPS modernization. FCC commissioners approved a notice of inquiry in March seeking broad comment on the issue (see 2503270042).
The FCC asked for comment on whether it should update its “covered list” of unsecure companies to reflect a January finding by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security. BIS found “that the provision of certain connected vehicle hardware or software by certain Chinese- or Russian-controlled entities poses an unacceptable risk to U.S. national security and the safety and security of U.S. persons.” The notice, published by the FCC Public Safety Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology in Tuesday's Daily Digest, asks for comments by June 9 in docket 18-89.
Rather than focusing on deleting certain regulations, the Trump administration should consider shuttering the FCC, wrote Thomas Lenard, a senior fellow at the Technology Policy Institute. “The White House is closing and shrinking other agencies, and it should consider doing the same to the FCC -- as the administration has a responsibility to evaluate whether the agency has outlived its raison d’etre,” Lenard said this week in The Wall Street Journal.
The FCC made limited changes to an NPRM on foreign-ownership rules, as agency officials indicated at last week's meeting, where commissioners approved the item 4-0 (see 2505220056). The FCC posted the NPRM on Tuesday.
The U.S. is in dire need of commercial services to complement or back up GPS, though global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and space industry experts expect commercial services to face a business challenge in competing with GPS' free signals. Some speakers at a George Washington University/Aerospace Corp. seminar Tuesday also said RF diversity could help tackle GPS interference problems but would see a major regulatory fight. In response to an FCC notice of inquiry regarding positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) alternatives, NTIA on Tuesday submitted an "inventory" of possibilities (see 2505270037).
While the FCC is downplaying the extent of staff departures, uncertainties surround their effect on the agency. Industry officials also said the attrition so far -- 78 employees were announced to have left as of the end of April (see 2505200058) -- is concentrated among the most experienced staff and could presage a much larger exit.