FCC Chairman Brendan Carr names Katie McAuliffe, ex-Information Technology Industry Council, as a policy advisor in his office, overseeing coalitions and external affairs … Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) selects Commissioner Marissa Paslick Gillett to serve another two-year term as chair of the state's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority … Telecom infrastructure services provider TriStruX taps Tom Prestwood, formerly InSite Telecom, as CEO, replacing interim CEO Gene Callahan, who remains as a strategic adviser and member of the board of managers ... Correction: Next-generation 911 technology provider NGA adds Ricardo Villafana, formerly AT&T, as field engineer, a new position (see 2506160041).
Getting and maintaining a satellite license is costlier in the U.S. than anywhere else, and the bond requirement means a lot of capital being set aside that could be invested in the business, according to Astranis Space Technologies. The company discussed licensing issues in a meeting with FCC Space Bureau Chief Jay Schwarz, said a filing posted Monday (docket 25-133). The agency's bond structure "serves to freeze out new entrants while enabling established operators with large fleets to secure additional spectrum bond-free," it said. The small geostationary orbit satellite operator also urged the FCC to allow applications on a given orbit location rather than on a per-satellite basis.
The FCC’s Broadband Data Task Force announced that the seventh broadband data collection (BDC) filing window for submitting broadband availability and other data will open Tuesday. The June 2025 update of the broadband serviceable location fabric is also being made available to existing fabric licensees, the task force said Monday. “The Fabric serves as the foundation for the collection of fixed broadband availability data in the BDC,” it said. “The updated Fabric is being made available to Fabric licensees and must be used by filers of fixed broadband availability for their availability data as of June 30.”
Wi-Fi Alliance CEO Kevin Robinson and others from the group met with aides to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Anna Gomez to warn that NextNav’s proposals for the 900 MHz band are a threat to “Wi-Fi HaLow,” a Wi-Fi technology operating in the band. The technology is “being used to deliver robust, long-range connectivity for a wide range of industrial and consumer [IoT] applications,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 25-110. “We expressed concern that the use of Wi-Fi HaLow devices is imperiled by NextNav’s proposal to reallocate the 900 MHz band to support its 5G-based alternative positioning, navigation, and timing” service (see 2503030023).
Verizon is getting support from police groups for its request that the FCC delete the unlocking commitment stipulated as a condition of approving Verizon’s purchase of Tracfone (see 2505200051).
Carolina West Wireless asked the FCC for designation as a high-cost eligible telecommunications carrier in eight counties in North Carolina. Carolina West is the lone wireless carrier serving those counties, said a filing posted Monday in docket 09-197.
HMB Solutions will pay a $15,000 fine for not getting prior FCC approval for the substantial transfer of control of its cable landing license for the Japan-Guam-Australia North submarine cable system, the FCC Enforcement Bureau said Monday.
ZipDX raised concerns about an FCC proposal to close a gap in the agency's Stir/Shaken authentication rules by addressing non-IP calls. Commissioners approved an NPRM in April (see 2504280038), and initial comments are due July 16. ZipDX representatives met with Wireline Bureau staff, said a filing Monday in docket 17-97.
Ameelio CEO April Feng and others from the company met with aides to FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez on Ameelio’s incarcerated persons communications service (IPCS) offering. Ameelio “explained that it is a nonprofit provider of IPCS that provides service without charge to incarcerated persons or their families, but rather charges a subscription fee to prisons, jails, and other facilities to provide the services in those institutions,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 23-62. “Ameelio’s fee is based on its costs of providing service to a given facility or facilities for the estimated usage of the service by incarcerated persons in those facilities, rather than a per minute rate that increases with total minutes of use,” and it doesn’t increase “even if actual usage exceeds the estimate.”
The Wireline Bureau has extended several incarcerated people’s communications service (IPCS) deadlines until April 1, 2027, and the FCC could reevaluate aspects of the 2024 IPCS order, said an order and news release Monday. The new order waived the deadlines for complying with the rate cap, site commission, and per-minute pricing rules adopted in 2024 “to ensure sufficient funding for safety and security tools, while IPCS providers and the facilities they serve address the challenges of implementing these requirements.” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a release that the 2024 order “is leading to negative, unintended consequences” where prisons limit the availability of IPCS, and it “does not allow providers and institutions to properly consider public safety and security interests when facilitating these services.”