The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Wednesday that a case examining the legality of the FCC’s prison-calling order will proceed. The FCC had asked the court to hold the case in abeyance in light of the Wireline Bureau’s decision to delay some incarcerated people’s communications service (IPCS) deadlines until April 1, 2027 (see 2507100061). Groups representing prisoners and their families want the case to be heard.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
Utility and broadband interests are pushing the FCC for changes to the agency's pole attachment item on its July 24 meeting agenda. In a speech earlier this month laying out his "Build America" agenda, Chairman Brendan Carr highlighted the pole attachment draft order and a copper line retirement draft NPRM, also on July's agenda, as prime examples of an intertwined focus on infrastructure deployment and deregulation (see 2507020036). Communications infrastructure deployment experts have mixed feelings about whether the pole attachment item notably eases pole attachment gripes. Commissioners' unanimous approval is expected, as pole attachment issues are generally nonpartisan.
The FCC avoided a potentially disastrous result when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the USF contribution factor in its Consumers’ Research decision last month (see 2507020049), HWG’s Chris Wright said during a practitioners panel that was part of an FCBA CLE Tuesday (see 2507150081). “If the case had gone the other way” it would have “called into question almost everything in the Communications Act,” said Wright, a former FCC general counsel.
The FCC's move to consider an NPRM on copper retirements at the July 24 open meeting (see 2507030049) is part of a global trend, experts said Tuesday during a World Broadband Association webinar. Operators worldwide have the same concerns as those in the U.S. about the cost of maintaining legacy networks as fiber is deployed, panelists said.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday unveiled a full agenda for the Aug. 7 open meeting, leading off with proposed changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Also included are draft orders that Carr said were aimed at streamlining submarine cable licensing and satellite and earth station licensing. As will be true for the July meeting, cutting regulation will be a priority in August (see 2507030049).
An amateur radio operator in Germany is petitioning the FCC to deny AST SpaceMobile's request to conduct telemetry, tracking and control operations in 430-440 MHz. In a petition posted Tuesday (docket 25-201), Mario Lorenz said the band is allocated in Europe to amateur radio on a co-primary basis and heavily used. Under ITU rules, the FCC would have to find that AST’s proposed use is incapable of causing harmful interference to international radio service, including amateur radio, but the record doesn't support that finding, said Lorenz.
Consumer Technology Association members are incentivized to oppose NAB’s proposed mandatory ATSC 3.0 transition because they own free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels, Pearl TV told acting FCC Media Bureau Chief Erin Boone and Media Bureau staff in an ex parte meeting last week, according to a filing posted Tuesday in docket 16-142. “TV manufacturers that own FAST channels today are competing with broadcasters for advertisers and viewers; consequently, it is not surprising that they too are incentivized to stifle broadcast innovation,” said the filing. Pearl also pushed back on arguments from the American Television Alliance that the agency lacks authority to require a transition to 3.0 that would involve broadcast spectrum being used primarily for datacasting and nonbroadcast activities. “Of course the Commission has authority after providing notice-and-comment to sunset one of its rules,” the filing said. “It seems hard to imagine that a party in 2025 could seriously doubt the Commission’s authority to sunset one of its rules.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau announced an updated Lifeline minimum service standard for fixed broadband data usage, said a public notice in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. Beginning Dec. 1 and continuing until Dec. 1, 2026, the Lifeline minimum service standard for fixed broadband data usage will be 1280 GB per month, the PN said. The standards for mobile voice telephony and mobile broadband will remain unchanged, the PN said. The PN also said that the budget for federal universal service support for the Lifeline program for 2026 will be $2.97 billion. The budget was $2.89 billion in 2025.
CTIA President Ajit Pai met with new FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty to discuss spectrum issues, particularly the upcoming AWS-3 reauction and a proposed auction of the upper C-band. CTIA made similar arguments in a recent meeting with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr (see 2507110023). The FCC has regained auction authority following enactment of the reconciliation package (see 2507070045).