The FCC on Wednesday sought comment on a New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) proposal to use the 4.9 GHz band for train safety communications. Comments are due Aug. 22, replies Sept. 8, in universal licensing system file number 0011366120. MTA seeks to license “wayside” transmitters as temporary fixed stations but requests a waiver of certain technical rules to operate them at permanent locations,” said a notice by the Public Safety and Wireless bureaus. MTA also seeks “a waiver of the 4.9 GHz application freeze on new deployments so it can continue expanding its operations in the future,” the notice said.
Three top House Commerce Committee Democrats said Wednesday they're opening an investigation into reports that mobile virtual network operator Trump Mobile (see 2506160040) would operate on T-Mobile’s network, claiming that “raises the appearance of a quid pro quo between [the carrier] and President [Donald] Trump regarding the direction of our country’s spectrum policies.” Word of the probe came as T-Mobile announced it once again was the U.S. wireless industry leader on subscriber growth in Q2 (see 2507230066)
Multiple personnel items that were added to the FCC's Thursday meeting agenda (see 2507170058) have been adopted and deleted, the agency said Wednesday.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
Verizon and UScellular urged the FCC to approve their proposed spectrum deal, as the regional carrier seeks to sell off most of its spectrum holdings. In a filing posted Wednesday in docket 25-192, they jointly responded to opponents of the transaction. Verizon agreed in October to buy UScellular’s 850 MHz, AWS and PCS licenses for $1 billion (see 2410180004), a deal various groups have opposed (see 2507080053).
The pole attachment item on the FCC's agenda Thursday is likely to be rewritten concerning the 60-day advance notice that attachers must provide utilities regarding midsize pole attachment orders, broadband infrastructure officials and experts tell us. In addition, we're told the draft order language about a 30-day timeline for utilities to approve attacher-proposed contractors could be moved to the item's Further NPRM. The pole attachment item -- a key part of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's Build America Agenda, unveiled in June (see 2507020036) -- has seen heavy lobbying from attacher and electric utility interests (see 2507160024 and 507180026).
The Trump administration's AI action plan specifies a limited role for the FCC. Released Wednesday, the 28-page blueprint focuses on accelerating innovation, building infrastructure and leading the world in AI diplomacy and security. Its priority is eliminating barriers and allowing AI to flourish.
AT&T expects to see up to $8 billion in tax savings for 2025-2027 as a result of the recently enacted reconciliation package and will invest $3.5 billion of those savings in its network, the carrier said Wednesday as it reported Q2 results. AT&T also reported 401,000 postpaid phone net adds for the quarter, 243,000 AT&T Fiber net adds and 203,000 AT&T Internet Air adds.
The Senate confirmed Republican Arielle Roth as NTIA administrator Wednesday on a largely party-line 52-42 vote, as expected (see 2507160076). Senate Commerce Committee member John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat who joined Republicans in backing Roth, as he was when the panel advanced her in April (see 2504090037). The chamber invoked cloture on Roth last week 50-34 (see 2507170065). President Donald Trump nominated Roth, who was Senate Commerce Republicans’ telecom policy director, to the NTIA role in February (see 2502040056).
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the FCC’s top-four prohibition and its extension to low-power TV stations and multicast streams but upheld the agency’s other broadcast ownership rules in a unanimous three-judge decision Wednesday on the 2018 quadrennial review.