The White House’s pattern of removing dissenting officials from independent agencies is “vividly illustrative” of the administration’s fear and weakness, said FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez in a speech for The Media Institute Thursday. “Even when this administration holds so much power, it cannot tolerate disagreement or dissent,” Gomez said. “And if I’m removed from my seat on the commission, let it be said plainly: It wasn’t because I failed to do my job. It’s because I insisted on doing it." Congress has always intended for the FCC to be independent, she noted. During the creation of the FCC's predecessor Federal Radio Commission, Congress considered giving power over the airwaves to the commerce secretary, she said. That idea was struck down “specifically because Congress feared that a single individual, subject to political will, would possess too much control” over radio.
While the FCC saw lukewarm interest from terrestrial wireless players in greater access to the 42-42.5 GHz band (see 22308310053), the agency might find more enthusiasm from satellite interests, satellite spectrum experts tell us. The agency's May 22 meeting agenda will see it voting on a Further NPRM that proposes allowing more intensive satcom use of the 12.7 and 42 GHz bands, either as an alternative or complement to terrestrial wireless (see 2505010037). Some satellite operators are pushing the FCC to broaden the discussion to include the 51.4-52.4 GHz band.
Broadcasters are poised to execute a rush of mergers and acquisitions if the FCC relaxes ownership rules, but uncertainty about markets, the direction regulators may take and the future of broadcast networks could influence deal-making, broadcast brokers said in interviews this week. The agency's failure to relax ownership rules could spur a wave of bankruptcies, they said. “The industry is crying out for some relief, and it really deserves some relief, because we can't compete with the giant companies that we're forced to compete with now,” Media Services Group co-founder George Reed said. Tideline Partners Managing Partner Gregory Guy said “2025 is the most fundamentally important year for broadcasters in decades.”
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chair Deb Fischer, R-Neb., doubled down Thursday on her opposition to the House Commerce Committee’s budget reconciliation package spectrum language (see 2505120058), saying it didn’t adequately protect DOD-controlled bands. House Commerce voted Wednesday to advance the measure, which would restore the FCC’s lapsed auction authority through FY 2034 and mandate the commission auction 600 MHz within six years (see 2505140062).
The FCC announced Friday the approval of Verizon’s $20 billion buy of Frontier, in an action by the Wireline Bureau. The approval came after Verizon filed a letter at the FCC agreeing to get rid of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a top focus of the FCC under President Donald Trump. The FCC moved relatively quickly and the deal had only been pending since September (see 2409050010).
A pirate radio operator in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, has agreed to pay $11,000 to the FCC as part of a settlement with the agency, said an order and consent decree in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. In January 2024, the FCC approved a notice of apparent liability against Wilfrid Salomon, proposing a fine of $358,665. The agency said then that Salomon had been operating a pirate station for years and received multiple FCC warnings. After the NAL, Salomon gave the agency evidence of his inability to pay the proposed forfeiture amount, according to the consent decree. After determining that Salomon ceased broadcasting, the Enforcement Bureau said it agreed to the settlement. Under the consent decree, Salomon agreed not to commit future acts of pirate broadcasting or assist anyone else in doing so. If he violates the settlement, he will have to pay the remaining $347,665 proposed in the NAL, the consent decree said.
Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg expressed confidence Wednesday that his company will complete its $20 billion acquisition of Frontier (see 2409050010). He told a JPMorgan conference that preparing for Frontier to become part of his company was one of the areas where he spends the largest percentage of his time. Last week, the FCC’s informal 180-day shot clock on the deal expired.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau notified the Beachwalk (At Hallandale) Condominium Association that it’s suspected of interfering with public safety communications through the use of a signal booster in the 799-805 MHz band. Agents detected the transmissions in January, emitting from a property that’s part of the Miami-area association, the bureau said.
The FCC Public Safety Bureau sought comment Wednesday on a request by the Monsey Fire District in New York to modify its private land mobile radio system by adding an 800 MHz specialized mobile radio to its two-site conventional system. Comments are due May 29, replies June 13, in universal licensing system file number 0011089434. The FCC posted the notice on its website's homepage.
The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment Wednesday on a proposal by the C-band Relocation Payment Clearinghouse to “wind down and cease operations on or about June 30.” Comments are due May 29 in docket 18-122. “In its request, the RPC states that it has completed all substantive functions required under the Commission’s rules and the 3.7 GHz Report and Order,” the bureau said: “The RPC notes that all reimbursement claims have been reviewed, every claim approved in whole or in part has been invoiced, and only a single claim remains pending appeal.”