The FCC defended its 50% upward adjustment of a fine it imposed on Verizon for data violations, bringing the total penalty to $46.9 million, in a brief filed Wednesday at the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The court heard Verizon’s challenge of the fine in April (docket 24-1733), with judges appearing skeptical of the carrier’s arguments (see 2504290060). This week, they asked both sides about the adjustment as they near a decision. The FCC defended the fine even though now-Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Nathan Simington had opposed it (see 2504250062).
The Enterprise Wireless Alliance asked the FCC to clarify the regulatory status of 800/900 MHz specialized mobile radio service systems not interconnected with the public switched telephone network. They should be considered private mobile systems that “may not be classified or regulated as common carriers for any purpose under the Communications Act,” the group said in an undocketed filing posted Wednesday.
The FCC Wireline Bureau on Thursday authorized carriers to “grandfather” interconnected VoIP services provisioned over copper lines and waived an “associated requirement to file an application with the Commission” under agency discontinuance rules. The bureau also waived for two years “the need for carriers applying for section 214(a) discontinuance authority to follow the testing methodology and parameters described in the 2016 Technology Transitions Order and its Technical Appendix.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau announced Thursday the interim required locations lists for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, the Bringing Puerto Rico Together Fund, and the Connect U.S. Virgin Islands Fund. The release is tied to the FCC’s shifting carriers from reporting USF high-cost program data using latitude/longitude/address information to reporting deployment using fabric locations IDs, the bureau said. The FCC previously committed to releasing an interim required locations list this month for RDOF carriers using the latest version of the “fabric.”
The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB) and more than 80 other groups jointly urged House lawmakers not to pass the Senate-cleared Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval (S.J.Res. 7) to undo the FCC's July 2024 order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots. The Senate cleared S.J.Res. 7 earlier this month on a 50-38 party-line vote (see 2505080055).
The FCC’s “bad labs” order and Further NPRM, approved by commissioners 4-0 last week and posted this week, contains a lengthy cost-of-benefit analysis weighing the costs and risks of not moving forward with the rules. FCC officials noted last week that this was the only major change from the draft (see 2505220056), though the agency also added a paragraph on DOJ's concerns. Other changes were mostly cosmetic, based on a side-by-side comparison.
Rate regulation would harm competition in the broadband marketplace and undermine efforts to close the digital divide, said ACA Connects in a new study released Thursday. The study, conducted in partnership with Cartesian, found four "cascading" effects of rate regulation: less investment, less competition, a slowdown in pricing declines and harm spillover.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said at a listening session and panel discussion hosted Wednesday by Free Press that she doesn’t expect the agency to “liberally” use a good-cause exception to notice-and-comment rules or delegated authority when it takes action on the “Delete” docket. “I am hopeful that, in fact, a lot of these rules will come up to vote,” she said at the Los Angeles event, which was part of her “First Amendment Tour” (see 2504240064).
A U.S Supreme Court decision Thursday requiring judicial deference to agency environmental reviews of infrastructure projects could have implications for broadband deployment, drawing attention from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. “For too long, America’s infrastructure builds have been held back by reams of red tape,” wrote Carr in a post on X about Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado. “But today, the Supreme Court helps to correct course -- eliminating needless environmental hoops. As the FCC works to unleash more infrastructure builds, permitting reforms like this are key.”
While BEAD is critical to serving the most difficult-to-reach 5.5 million homes in the U.S., the money available through the program pales in comparison to what providers are spending to bolster broadband connectivity, Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton said in an interview. The slow pace in making changes to the BEAD program has been “a colossal failure” on NTIA’s part, he added. FBA will hold its Fiber Connect conference next week in Nashville.