Providers covered under the FCC's rules regarding line separation requests in the Safe Connections Act are required to comply with the provision by July 15 (see 2311160080). A Wireline Bureau public notice Wednesday in docket 22-238 said OMB completed its review of the rules May 3.
Coastal TV is being forced to broadcast with a low-power transmitter that lacks sufficient power to cover its broadcast area due to a contract dispute with Mississippi TV, alleged a May 1 fraud complaint (docket 1:24-cv-00100), removed Tuesday from the Circuit Court of Lee County, Mississippi, to U.S. District Court for Northern Mississippi in Aberdeen.
Broadband access, equity and deployment program funding is flowing more slowly than expected and likely won’t start in mid-2025 as originally expected, Diana Eisner, USTelecom vice president-policy and advocacy, said during a Georgetown University Center for Business and Public Policy webcast Wednesday. Most of the money will start to flow in mid-2026 or later, she predicted. It could even be the second half of 2026, she said.
Intuitive Machines hopes it can send its second lunar lander to the moon's surface sometime in Q4. In an FCC Space Bureau application posted Tuesday, it sought approval for that NOVA-C Lunar Lander mission. It would land at the moon's South Pole and carry out a variety of missions, including testing an LTE communications system on the moon. The company's first lunar lander mission, part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, was carried out in February.
Intrepid Fiber Networks backed the FCC's proposal that bans bulk billing arrangements between ISPs and multi-tenant environment (MTE) owners (see 2405080043). Intrepid said in a letter Tuesday in docket 17-142 that such arrangements without an opt-out provision "force MTE resident consumers to pay for broadband, cable, and satellite service" from a specific provider. In addition, they act "as an impediment to new market entrants," Intrepid said. Some consumers are "being forced to purchase unwanted and unused services, leading to overall higher costs," it added. The company said bulk billing contracts result in consumers being "obligated to pay for increasingly outdated technology and network equipment."
Supplemental coverage from space activities could make radio astronomy impossible from 600 MHz to 2700 MHz and beyond, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory said Tuesday in FCC docket 22-271. NRAO said strong beam coupling or high passband occupation by SCS will destroy or permanently impair a radio astronomy receiver, though this could be mitigated. It said large swaths of spectrum where terrestrial interference has been coordinated away or otherwise obviated will be blocked by bands allocated to SCS. SCS emissions would block even protected bands, NRAO said, noting SCS undermines the protections the National Radio Quiet Zone and other remote locations enjoy today. Accordingly, it said the FCC should make SCS applicants show they can operate without directly illuminating, incapacitating or damaging radio astronomy observatory receivers. NRAO also urged cumulative limits on SCS interference.
A lawyer for Florida Power & Light spoke with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel about the utility’s support of rules authorizing shared use of a portion of the 5030-5091 MHz band for control and non-payload communications (see 2403290055). FPL discussed how it and “other similarly-situated critical infrastructure entities” use drones, said a filing Tuesday in docket 22-232 said.
The FCC’s Technological Advisory Council will meet June 21 at 10 a.m. at FCC headquarters, a notice in Tuesday’s Federal Register said. “TAC will continue to consider and advise the Commission on topics such as continued efforts at looking beyond 5G advanced as 6G begins to develop so as to facilitate U.S. leadership; studying advanced spectrum sharing techniques, including the implementation of artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the utilization and administration of spectrum; and other emerging technologies,” the notice said. TAC held the first meeting under its current charter in March (see 2403190060).
Comments are due June 28, replies July 29, on the FCC's proposal requiring georouting of 988 calls by wireless carriers, said a notice for Wednesday's Federal Register. Commissioners voted 5-0 at their April open meeting to adopt an NPRM proposing the georouting requirement (see 2404250054). The NPRM seeks comment on georouting options and their viability, whether existing FCC rules would need amending, and the hurdles for georouting texts to 988. Comments are due in docket 18-336.
The International Association of Fire Chiefs told the FCC it remains “steadfast" in its support for letting the FirstNet Authority manage the 4.9 GHz band. The authority “has experience in maintaining a national public safety broadband network; mandated priority and ruthless preemption for public safety users; and has both federal and Congressional oversight to ensure proper stewardship of a vital taxpayer-owned resource,” a filing posted Tuesday in docket 07-100 said.