NTIA promotes Parul Desai, previously director-Office of Congressional Affairs and FCC, to chief of staff ... Cybersecurity company Sailpoint appoints Gary Nafus, ex-Microsoft, as chief sales officer and promotes Matt Mills to president ... Connectivity provider Lightpath appoints Rachel Stack, ex-Cologix, as chief financial officer ... Josh Finke, ex-Compucom, joins IT company Lumen Technologies as senior vice president-public sector ... Charter communications names Simon Cassels, ex-GoodRx, as senior vice president-chief creative officer ... Network application programming interface platform Shabodi adds SineWave Ventures’ Nikesh Kalra, Henna Business Services’ Asha Keddy, and Tony Thelen, ex-John Deere, to board.
Intelsat agreed on a $160,000 penalty to end an FCC investigation into the company's unauthorized operation of its Galaxy 35 satellite, the agency's Enforcement Bureau said Monday. While the satellite was authorized to operate at 95.05 degrees west, Intelsat instead parked it at 94.85 degrees west in early 2023 and conducted telemetry, tracking and control transmissions during and after the satellite's move to the unauthorized orbital location, the bureau said. Subsequently, Intelsat received permission to relocate the satellite to 93.1 degrees west, where it currently operates.
SpaceX asked the FCC to start a proceeding to revise the U.S.' geostationary/non-geostationary orbit spectrum sharing methodology for NGSO fixed satellite service downlinks. In its petition Monday, SpaceX called the existing equivalent power flux density (EPFD) limits "critically out of date" and said they are "significantly overprotective of GSO networks." SpaceX cheered 2023's World Radiocommunication Conference calling for studies of higher EPFD limits ahead of WRC-27 (see 2312200046). But in its petition, SpaceX said studies "will leave American consumers waiting for years after they have already had their broadband service unnecessarily restricted for decades. The American people should not have to wait any longer." The petition said GSO operators have used the EPFD limits as a competitive cudgel, "sandbag[ging] Commission staff in licensing proceedings based on speculative claims of interference from NGSO systems [and using] these inefficient rules to prevent U.S.-licensed NGSO systems from entering new markets abroad." The agency should seek comment on short-term and long-term GSO protection criteria and identify realistic GSO links that can be used to demonstrate compliance with those short-term and long-term limits.
NAB and the Motion Picture Association want the FCC to allow more time for comments in the AI political ad disclosure proceeding (see 2407250046), according to a motion posted Friday in docket 24-211. Comments are currently due Sept. 4, replies Sept. 19. NAB and MPA want a 30-day extension for comments, to Oct. 4, and 14 more days for replies, which would then be due Nov. 4. The presidential election is Nov. 5. The trade groups want more time “to provide meaningful comment on the Notice because it raises significant, novel factual and legal issues that will entail extensive factfinding and research,” the motion said. Moreover, other FCC processes on AI haven’t been as rushed, the motion said. The time crunch has been exacerbated because the FCC “pushed the Notice through the Federal Register process in near-record time,” didn’t release a public draft version, and delayed the final version’s release for two weeks after it was voted, NAB and MPA said. “There is simply no need to rush through the process under a notion that a decision could somehow be relevant for the 2024 election,” the motion said. “The 2024 election cycle is in fact already well underway. There is no chance an adopted item could have any impact.” Without an extension, the current timeline gives groups fewer than six weeks from the release of the NPRM to the deadline for initial comments. “This is an extremely short turnaround for a proceeding of this significance and complexity,” NAB and MPA said.
Standard General and its founder Soohyung Kim filed an amended complaint Friday in an April lawsuit that accuses FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Allen Media CEO Byron Allen, Dish CEO Charlie Ergen and others of conspiring to block Standard’s $8.6 billion attempted purchase of Tegna last year (see 2306010077). The amended complaint is largely similar to one filed in April (see 2404250059) but includes an additional count, which argues that the FCC violated the Communications Act when it considered Allen as an alternative buyer to Standard. “The possibility of an alternative buyer for TEGNA -- Mr. Allen -- infected the agency’s entire treatment of Standard General’s license-transfer application,” the amended complaint said. Considering an alternative buyer constitutes “an extreme agency error” that should be subject to judicial review, and the court should enjoin the FCC from doing so for Standard’s future transactions, the complaint said. “Mr. Kim has had to alter Standard General’s immediate broadcast strategy” to avoid deals that fall under FCC review to prevent future discrimination against Standard, the complaint said. “Without declaratory or injunctive relief, he cannot pursue larger deals that he would otherwise be pursuing and that require the FCC’s pre-approval.” The amended complaint also calls out the timing of meetings and phone calls Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer and Rosenworcel had with Ergen and I Street Advocates attorney David Goodfriend, who has represented Dish, Allen and unions that opposed Standard/Tegna. “Mr. Ergen and Chairwoman Rosenworcel had a scheduled breakfast to occur within a week of the shot clock starting, Mr. Goodfriend and Ms. Saurer had a scheduled meeting the same day the objectors first filed, and Mr. Allen called Mr. Kim the day after the FCC ordered Standard General to produce highly sensitive documents,” the complaint said. The defendants “expressly or tacitly entered into an agreement to work with each other and with Chairwoman Rosenworcel and Ms. Saurer to thwart the Standard General-TEGNA deal,” the amended complaint said. The FCC, Dish, Allen and the unions have until Sept. 9 to respond, according to the court’s orders. Dish, Allen Media, the FCC and Goodfriend didn’t comment.
The FCC Precision Ag Task Force will meet virtually Sept. 18 at 3 p.m. EDT, a Federal Register notice said Monday. The group will hear from working group leadership and discuss progress toward their recommendations to the commission.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted Benton Institute for Broadband & Society's motion to hold briefings in abeyance for two cases about pending petitions for reconsideration of the FCC's net neutrality rules (see 2408080004). The court said in a Monday order (dockets 24-3504 and 24-3507) that a new briefing schedule for the two cases will be issued "when this outstanding matter has been resolved." No parties opposed the motion.
Oppositions are due Aug. 27, replies Sept. 6, at the FCC on a petition for reconsideration of last month’s 3-2 order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services (see 2407180024), said a notice in Monday’s Federal Register. The petitioners were Maurine and Matthew Molak, who previously sued the FCC over its decision authorizing funding of Wi-Fi on school buses (see 2406260006). Filings are due in docket 21–31.
The FCC should establish "clear timelines" for large pole orders as part of its final order streamlining the pole attachment process, the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition told the Wireline Bureau in a meeting (see 2403140068). The group said in an ex parte filing Monday in docket 17-84 that there should be "clearly defined and equitable standards for pole replacement costs." SHLB also sought clarification on costs associated with pole replacements, suggesting that pole owners be responsible for "at least 50 percent of the cost of pole replacements, given that they will own and benefit financially from the new pole." The group also opposed Edison Electric Institute's petition concerning the definition of a "grandfathered" pole (see 2402260073).
The FCC deactivated its disaster information reporting system (DIRS) and mandatory disaster response initiative for Tropical Storm Debby in Virginia and the Carolinas, the agency announced Friday and Saturday, respectively. Communications providers there no longer have to report on their cellular networks in DIRS. The FCC said it will continue monitoring their status.