Google has willfully acquired and maintained monopoly power over online ads in violation of antitrust measures, ruled a U.S. District Court Judge in the Eastern District of Virginia on Thursday.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned the FCC's $57 million fine imposed on AT&T, agreeing with the wireless carrier that the agency's in-house adjudication was unconstitutional. In its docket 24-60223 decision Thursday, the three-judge 5th Circuit panel said its analysis is governed by the U.S. Supreme Court's Jarkesy decision. And the court pointed to Jarkesy as it said the FCC was incorrect that its enforcement proceeding against AT&T falls under the "public rights" exception that lets Congress assign some matters to an agency instead of an Article III court. Common law suits presumptively concern "private rights" and must be adjudicated by Article III courts, they said. The judges said an in-house FCC proceeding "amputates the carrier’s ability to challenge the legality of the forfeiture order." "No one denies the Commission’s authority to enforce laws requiring telecommunications companies like AT&T to protect sensitive customer data," the judges said. "But the Commission must do so consistent with our Constitution’s guarantees of an Article III decisionmaker and a jury trial." Hearing the case were Judges Catrina Haynes, Stuart Duncan and Cory Wilson, with Duncan penning the decision. T-Mobile and Verizon are similarly challenging fines brought against them in the same April 2024 enforcement action accusing the three wireless carriers of failing to safeguard data on customers' real-time locations.
The Trump administration’s growing list of executive orders targeting law firms may have only limited implications for the FCC, industry lawyers told us. Nonetheless, observers said they see the growing list of targeted firms as an unprecedented assault aimed at chilling opposition to the administration.
Hannah Lepow departs as legal adviser to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and will join NBC Universal … Joel Thayer, ex-Digital Progress Institute, joins the office of FTC Commissioner Mark Meador as chief of staff ... Changes at Eutelsat America and OneWeb Technologies: General Counsel Joe Uglialoro adds COO title; Chris Hetmanski named chief technology officer, replacing Rodrigo Gomez, now with Amazon's Project Kuiper … Wireless broadband firm Inseego appoints Ryan Sullivan, formerly Sorenson Communications, as senior vice president-carrier product management ... Senan Mele, formerly Horizon Next, joins BIA as vice-president-forecasting and data analysis, replacing Nicole Ovadia, who is leaving to pursue station ownership.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez condemned the agency’s investigations of PBS and NPR stations Wednesday in a release detailing her visit to public media broadcaster WHYY in Philadelphia last week. WHYY has PBS and NPR affiliate stations. “Baseless attacks on public media threaten to create a new kind of news desert -- one where communities can’t access the local critical information they need,” Gomez said. “The FCC must prioritize protecting and expanding the public’s access to timely, accurate news, free from political interference.” Regulators' decisions “have real consequences for communities that rely on local news stations for critical information,” she said. The release said the visit is part of Gomez's effort to engage with local broadcasters. “Through these visits, Commissioner Gomez is also drawing attention to how unfounded attacks on public media can disrupt the distribution of local news and emergency information,” it said. The FCC didn’t comment.
Telnyx, which is facing a proposed $4.5 million notice of apparent liability (NAL) from the FCC (see 2503050026), has been reinstated to the Industry Traceback Group (ITG). Telnyx said Tuesday that the FCC recommended the reinstatement. Telnyx's logo on Tuesday was included among those companies on the ITG website's list of "supporting partners." Telnyx CEO David Casem said, “We have been clear from the beginning that [Telnyx] is a victim of Biden-era regulation by enforcement that violates multiple executive orders from President [Donald] Trump and that we are completely innocent in this matter.” Casem added, “The FCC’s actions facilitating our reinstatement with the ITG are a welcomed first step in the process of clearing our name for good and show the Commission's commitment to righting this wrong. We remain confident that the facts of this case are on our side, and we will not rest until the NAL against us is fully resolved.” The FCC and ITG didn't comment.
The FCC on Wednesday suspended seven individuals convicted of E-rate fraud from participating in the program and started a proceeding to permanently bar them from the program. All pleaded guilty last year to defrauding the E-rate program in connection with funds provided to private religious schools in Rockland County, New York.
Starry executives spoke with staff from the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology on the company’s support for a draft order on the 37 GHz band proposed for a vote at the April 28 FCC meeting (see 2504070054). Starry is making the rounds at the FCC and earlier spoke with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks (see 2504150044).
The decision to construct its network using open radio access network technology has allowed EchoStar to adapt quickly as it builds out its Boost Mobile network, Boost Chief Technology Officer Eben Albertyn said Wednesday. ORAN has kept Boost from being overcharged for network components, he said: “We were not going to be price-gouged and have a gun held to our head,” he said during a keynote at a Competitive Carriers Association conference in Denver.
The FCC Wireless Bureau approved two applications to assign 600 MHz spectrum from Channel 51 to T-Mobile. The licenses cover the Chicago and New Orleans markets. “We find that the proposed license assignments have a low likelihood of competitive harm and would serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity,” said an order in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. EchoStar opposed the transfers, but repeated arguments “that we have addressed in prior orders consenting to multiple similar license assignment transactions,” the bureau said.