Deleting parts of the FCC’s E-rate rules would help the program, E-rate advocates said in meetings with staff for Commissioners Anna Gomez and Olivia Trusty. Representatives of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, the American Library Association and the School Superintendents Association attended, said a filing posted Monday in docket 25-133.
NextNav countered the arguments that RFID company Avery Dennison made in its challenge to NextNav’s proposal to offer a terrestrial complement to GPS using 900 MHz spectrum (see 2507280039). Avery Dennison said in a filing last month that NextNav’s proposal “presents a significant threat to the continued effective operation of the RFID ecosystem, which plays a vital role across multiple industries, including logistics, retail, airline, consumer goods, and healthcare.”
Federated Wireless Chief Technology Officer Kurt Schaubach touted the importance of the citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) band in a meeting with FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty, according to a filing Monday in docket 17-258. Federated officials called for “critical” changes to rules for the band to further spur deployment.
NTCA urged the FCC to tweak the enhanced alternative Connect America cost model (E-ACAM) “in a manner that captures as accurately as possible the effects on costs associated with location changes.” An NTCA representative discussed the program with a Wireline Bureau staffer, said a filing Monday in docket 10-90. NTCA favors applying the threshold for support adjustments in a manner that mitigates volatility in support levels, so providers can deliver “on the obligations of the program consistent with a reasonable understanding of such obligations at the time of program elections despite lingering concerns” and outdated data in the national broadband map, the group said. The FCC should also use its map as a “starting point rather than as a ‘finish line’ for assessments of would-be competitive presence.”
The FCC Enforcement Bureau on Monday removed the certification of Chase Tech from the commission’s robocall mitigation database. The company’s certification “was found to contain false information regarding the Company as it submitted personal identification information of an individual who is unaffiliated with the Company, thus making the certification deficient under the Commission’s rules,” the bureau said.
The U.S. Supreme Court should refrain from overturning judicial precedent on the firing of independent agency commissioners as “a matter of judicial restraint -- of respect for precedent and continuity in the law,” said TechFreedom in an amicus brief filed Monday in Trump v. Slaughter. The case concerns President Donald Trump’s firing of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and could bear on whether Trump can fire FCC commissioners. The White House wants SCOTUS to vacate a lower court order that blocked Slaughter’s firing.
As policymakers look at reforms to the USF, they need to examine why so many people who are eligible for support don’t enroll in Lifeline and other programs, experts said Monday during an event hosted by Georgetown University's Center for Business and Public Policy. The session coincided with Monday's deadline for responding to the congressional USF working group's request for comments and proposals on USF reform.
Forced to abandon its plans for a terrestrial mobile network of its own, EchoStar is pivoting to what CEO Hamid Akhavan calls a "hybrid MVNO" (mobile virtual network operator) model, where its Boost Mobile business will use AT&T's mobile network and SpaceX's direct-to-device capacity.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued a pirate broadcasting notice to Tao and Persephone Lundolos of Booneville, Mississippi, about pirate radio broadcasts allegedly coming from property they own there. Hosting an unauthorized broadcast could result in a fine of up to $2.45 million for the property owners, the bureau said in a letter Friday.
The Enforcement Bureau has extended the deadline to Oct. 17 for responses to its 2025 equal employment opportunity audit letters and will allow stations targeted in the audit to keep their responses to questions about diversity practices private, said a public notice Friday. Responses had been due Sept. 22.