Citing the uncertainty around its spectrum rights because of FCC issues, EchoStar said Friday it had opted to forgo making a $326 million cash interest payment due that day on corporate debt that matures in 2029. In an SEC filing, EchoStar said the nonpayment counts as a default on the 2029 notes, but it pointed out that it has a 30-day grace period to make the payment, giving the FCC time to provide the relief the company requested. If the commission grants EchoStar relief, "we may confidently continue investing in our network buildout and expansion of our Boost business" and mobile satellite service offerings. The company this week asked the FCC to deny VTel Wireless' petition for reconsideration on an extension of EchoStar's 5G network buildout deadlines and to confirm that it has satisfied the 2024 commitments it made for that extension (see 2505280002).
FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington is right that broadcast ownership restrictions need modernization, but his call for streaming platforms to be subject to MVPD-like regulation (see 2505270054) is economically flawed, International Center for Law & Economics senior scholar Eric Fruits wrote Friday. That would extend an outdated regulatory framework over more technologies, he said. Streaming began and grew because streamers weren't subject to the heavy-handed rules that traditional linear providers were, and expanding legacy rules to streaming platforms could discourage technological experimentation, he said. Instead, the commission should revisit the broadcast industry's national cap and "offer the MVPDs the same light-touch rules that streamers currently enjoy."
The FCC Media Bureau and Office of Managing Director revoked the licenses of two Kremling Enterprises-owned radio stations in Texas because they had nearly $14,200 in unpaid regulatory fees, according to an order Friday. KYKM(FM) Yoakum and KTXM(FM) Hallettsville have delinquent fees from FY 2017-21and FY 2024. The order also dismissed pending renewal applications for the stations.
Verizon and AT&T are backing the C-band Relocation Payment Clearinghouse's request that it be allowed to shut down June 30 (see 2505140034). Substantive functions related to the C-band transition are complete, Verizon said in a filing posted Friday (docket 18-122). Pointing to Anuvu's pending appeal of a denied claim, Verizon said the 3.7 GHz service overlay licensees will guarantee payment to Anuvu in the event of a favorable FCC or final court ruling. AT&T filed similarly last week.
NextNav's proposed reconfiguration of the lower 900 MHz band would cost the tolling industry an estimated $6.8 billion, far outweighing supposed economic benefits, according to industry representatives. A docket 25-110 filing posted Friday recapped a meeting with FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington and the offices of Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Anna Gomez. During that meeting, International Bridge, Tunnel & Turnpike Association and E-ZPass Group representatives discussed the industry's economic impact study indicating that the direct and indirect costs of the NextNav proposal would be "many tens of billions of dollars across many industries" (see 2504300022).
Five years after the launch of its 5G Home Internet fixed wireless service, T-Mobile is the fastest-growing ISP and the fifth-largest in the U.S., the company told the FCC Friday (docket 22-211). In its latest annual status report on its 5G deployment requirements as part of its 2019 Sprint acquisition, T-Mobile said it has more than 6.5 million customers and is available to more than 70 million homes. As of March 31, its low-band 5G covers 98.45% of the U.S. population, while its midband 5G covers 94.75%; its six-year milestone requirement is for 99% and 88% coverage, respectively. It has already met all its rural 5G network coverage requirements, though it continues to extend its low-band and midband rural coverage, T-Mobile said, and it has also already met all its in-home broadband service milestones.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued a $25,000 penalty against the owner of a citizens band radio service station in Rockford, Illinois, for malicious interference and unauthorized operation, said a forfeiture order in Friday’s Daily Digest. Jayme John Leon violated FCC rules by using his station to make one-way transmissions and send nonverbal, indecipherable sound effects over long periods, the order said. His transmissions included recorded comedy routines, air raid siren sounds and “unintelligible, data-like” noises, said the 2023 notice of apparent liability that preceded Friday’s forfeiture order. The NAL said Leon has a history of noncompliance with FCC orders, previously being fined $14,000 for transmitting obscene and profane language. According to the NAL, Leon has said the broadcasts were caused by “a milk crate containing a battery-operated CB radio placed by an unidentified third-party at a corner near his house,” but he hasn’t provided evidence of the device. The Enforcement Bureau gathered evidence that showed the transmissions coming from an antenna on Leon’s home, the NAL said.
Metronet VoIP customers in 20 states will be moved to T-Mobile VoIP service on or after July 1, T-Mobile told the FCC on Friday (docket 00-257). T-Mobile and KKR announced in 2024 their $4.9 billion purchase of fiber operator Metronet (see 2407240020). The states are Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Submitting submarine line terminal equipment (SLTE) and indefeasible rights of use agreements through the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecommunications Services Sector process could mean big project delays, according to the International Connectivity Coalition. In a filing posted Friday (docket 24-523), ICC said the FCC's proceeding on rewriting its submarine cable rules should define submarine cable systems to align with how those systems are designed and deployed: from open cable interface to OCI, and not SLTE to SLTE. The filing recapped a meeting between ICC representatives and FCC Office of International Affairs acting Chief Tom Sullivan at which the industry group also said there's a lack of uniform definition for SLTEs. Commissioners adopted the subsea cable NPRM unanimously in November (see 2411210006).
Chapter 11 bankruptcy won't interrupt any service operations or change the rates or terms of service provided to existing customers, Everstream told the FCC in a letter posted Friday. The Cleveland fiber operator said it had reached an agreement to be purchased by Missouri-based Bluebird Fiber as part of a bankruptcy reorganization. The Bluebird deal follows the sale of Everstream's Illinois and St. Louis metropolitan area networks and its plan to wind down its Pennsylvania operations, it said. Absent a rival bidder, the company expects its Bluebird transaction to close by year-end, it added.