Senate leaders may still try to hold votes on Republican FCC nominee Olivia Trusty and NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth in late June, shortly before the upper chamber breaks for the week leading up to the July Fourth holiday, but lobbyists now believe both confirmations are more likely to happen in the lead-up to the August recess. Lobbyists told us that Democratic FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks’ pledge last week to resign before the agency's June 26 meeting (see 2505220043) is easing Republicans’ pressure to expedite Trusty’s confirmation because the GOP will gain a majority even without her taking office.
The 51.4-52.4 GHz band is currently allocated domestically for fixed and mobile services, but there's robust evidence supporting its use for satellite communications, the FCC said Tuesday as it released the satellite spectrum Further NPRM adopted at its May 22 meeting (see 2505220056). The draft FNPRM was limited to asking about opening the 12.7 and 42 GHz bands to satcom. The adopted version added the 51.4-52.4 GHz, 92-94 GHz, 94.1-100 GHz, 102-109.5 GHz and 111.8-114.25 GHz bands. It also asks about creating a domestic fixed satellite service allocation in the 52.14-52.4 GHz allocation; whether that allocation's use should be limited to non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellites; and whether limits on unwanted power emissions could ensure NGSO compatibility with space research operations in the nearby 52.6-54.25 GHz band. In addition, it seeks comment on whether any satellite use of the 92.0-94.0 GHz, 94.1-100 GHz, 102.0-109.5 GHz and 111.8-114.25 GHz bands should be limited to gateway unlinks for NGSO systems, as well as about the possibility of extending the self-coordinated and data-assisted “light-licensing” framework for the 70/80/90 GHz band to those W-band frequencies.
The Alaska Remote Carrier Coalition discussed with an FCC staffer the differences between completing the Alaska Plan under the Form 477 format and shifting to the broadband data collection data, as required for the Alaska Connect Fund, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-328.
Geophysical Survey Systems Inc. (GSSI) asked the FCC to act on its 2019 request for a waiver of commission rules for ultra-wideband ground-penetrating radar devices to allow the certification and marketing of a new device it's developing. The device would help autonomous vehicles in stay in a lane.
The FCC Public Safety Bureau on Wednesday denied a petition for reconsideration by China Unicom Americas, which asked the agency to rethink its 2022 decision revoking the company’s Section 214 authority to operate in the U.S. (see 2201270030). The order rejected each of CUA’s arguments. In December, the 9th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court turned down a petition for review from CUA that sought to overturn the 2022 decision (see 2412240032).
Members of the House this week asked FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to send to the Federal Register for publication rules for new multilingual templates for wireless emergency alerts (WEA), which the Public Safety Bureau released in January (see 2501080029).
Efforts by the White House and FCC to chill speech are succeeding, Commissioner Anna Gomez said at an event Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles, hosted by Free Press. It marked the first stop outside Washington, D.C., for Gomez’s “First Amendment Tour.” She said broadcasters have told her that they're warning reporters to tread carefully when covering the current administration. “That’s exactly what I don’t want to see." Using “the raised eyebrow,” the FCC is intimidating the corporate parents of journalistic organizations, she said. “It is so dangerous. We all need to understand what is happening.” The government telling private companies how to moderate their websites doesn’t comport with the First Amendment, she added. Gomez called for the FCC to pivot away from “sham investigations” and focus on actions that can help Americans, noting that Congress hasn’t given the FCC authority over Section 230 of the Communications Act.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
NextNav sees signs that the U.S. is moving to allow alternatives to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT), said Ed Mortimer, its vice president-government affairs, during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. The U.S. was once the leader in GPS but has “fallen behind” countries like China and Russia, which already have alternatives available for PNT, he said.
Major communications industry trade associations complained about state broadband regulations in a joint filing at the DOJ in response to a request for comments by the department’s new Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force. Like the FCC’s “Delete” proceeding, the initiative is part of the Trump administration’s push to cut regulation.