Gogo Business Aviation updated the FCC on delays it continues to face in removing unsecure gear from its network under the commission’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (see 2412130019). The update was heavily redacted. “Gogo’s requirements for replacing its network are not available off-the-shelf commercially,” said a filing Wednesday in docket 18-89. The company's vendor is still delivering equipment, it said. “Gogo expects deliveries to continue through December 2025. … Due to the nature of deploying networks and Gogo’s limited spectrum holdings, the vendor must deliver nearly all ordered equipment items and components in their entirety to allow Gogo to fully deploy the network before the ‘flash’ cutover.”
Alaska’s GCI Communications updated the FCC on its performance plan for mobile services under the agency's Alaska Plan order. The update reflects “new terrestrial middle mile facilities [that] became commercially available in an area previously served only by performance-limiting satellite middle mile” in Akutan, Deering, King Cove and Kivalina, said a filing posted Wednesday (docket 16-271). GCI will upgrade service in those communities to LTE over fiber middle mile, the filing said.
CTIA asked the FCC on Wednesday to extend a temporary waiver allowing use of the interim volume control testing method for hearing-aid compatibility (HAC) compliance (see 2410150024). Without further action, the waiver would expire Sept. 29. “CTIA seeks an interim waiver to extend current HAC compliance practices to allow stakeholders to finalize and gain approval of the new volume control test methodology as a consensus standard before requesting that the Commission allow its use going forward,” said a filing in docket 23-388. During this extension, “handsets will continue to be certified using the current interim standard for testing volume control for HAC purposes,” CTIA said.
Incompas and some of its members met with FCC Wireline Bureau staff on infrastructure issues, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 17-84. Among the companies represented were Crown Castle, C-Spire, Arcadian Infracom, PBI Fiber and Zayo. Incompas members “discussed the substantial investments in infrastructure and technologies they have made to deliver competitive communications services to customers in urban, suburban, and rural communities across the country,” the filing said. “Members also described current state and local permitting and franchising requirements, including the timelines and costs impacting broadband deployment. We also provided examples of variances in these requirements between jurisdictions.”
Former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said Wednesday that while he has long been a critic of the USF, he was relieved that the U.S. Supreme Court last week didn’t overturn the program (see 2506270054). Cutting off support that USF recipients need would be “a terrible outcome,” O’Rielly said during a Broadband Breakfast webinar.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez on Wednesday called for the FCC to investigate how criminals are using spectrum jammers in burglaries, saying she has discussed the issue with Chairman Brendan Carr. The commission's lone Democrat, Gomez appeared on a webcast interview with Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton.
House action on the Senate-cleared version of the HR-1 budget reconciliation package, previously known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, appeared in doubt Wednesday afternoon amid resistance from several GOP lawmakers. Critics of Senate Commerce Committee Republicans’ HR-1 spectrum language held out hope amid the ruckus that lawmakers would make additional bands ineligible for potential reallocation. The Senate narrowly passed its HR-1 language Tuesday (see 2507010070).
Paramount Global has agreed to a settlement in President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against CBS over its editing of a 60 Minutes interview last October with former Vice President Kamala Harris during the election, the company said.
Now with a Republican majority, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday laid out policy priorities that range from accelerating and easing broadband infrastructure deployment to tackling blue-collar workforce issues.
The Media Bureau has approved Sinclair’s sale of five stations to Rincon Broadcasting and waived a limit on common ownership of top-four stations in the same market, said an order Tuesday. The bureau also rejected a petition to deny the deal from recently formed public interest group Frequency Forward (see 2504150056). The group’s “allegations concerning Sinclair’s character qualifications have repeatedly been considered and rejected,” the order said.