CTIA expressed support for a possible auction of upper C-band spectrum, though broadcasters, aviation companies and some commenters were more skeptical, warning of harmful interference with other operations, among comments that were due Tuesday on the upper C-band notice of inquiry, which the FCC approved in February (see 2502280032). It explores the 3.98-4.2 GHz band's future.
The private sector can't take all the responsibility for safeguarding against and responding to major cybersecurity events like the Salt Typhoon data hack of communications networks, House Communications and Technology Subcommittee members heard Wednesday. Putting Salt Typhoon blame solely on industry ignores the government's failure to share information with the private sector, Technology Industry Association CEO David Stehlin said during the roughly 2.5-hour hearing about protecting communications infrastructure. The session also saw communications and national security experts lay out a variety of recommendations for improving U.S. communications network security, from uniform ways to report cyber incidents to actually punishing nations that tamper with U.S. subsea cables.
What will come out of the FCC’s “Delete” proceeding is hard to say at this point, since it builds on other FCC efforts to cut regulations, experts said during a webinar Wednesday by the Center for Business and Public Policy at Georgetown University. The FCC has logged more than 1,100 comments so far in docket 25-133, with replies due this week (see 2504290054 and 2504290038).
The FCC will consider rules growing out of last year’s “bad lab” NPRM during the commission’s May 22 meeting, Chairman Brendan Carr said Wednesday. Also on the agenda are foreign-ownership rules and an NPRM about spectrum for satellite broadband. Drafts will be posted Thursday.
The Senate Commerce Committee advanced Republican FCC nominee Olivia Trusty on a bipartisan vote Wednesday, as expected (see 2504290058), but Democrats made clear they won't allow a smooth confirmation process on the floor unless the Trump administration commits to picking a party-affiliated candidate to replace retiring Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. Ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington and five other panel Democrats voted for Trusty on Wednesday, even as misgivings about Starks' replacement and the FCC's independence during the Trump administration led seven caucus members to vote against the nominee.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr names Joseph Calascione, ex-Akin Gump and FCC, Wireline Bureau chief, replacing acting Chief Trent Harkrader ... Vonage promotes Seckin Arikan to COO; Christophe Van de Weyer, formerly Proximus Group, replaces him as president and head of business unit API … Changes at TowerCom: George Davis promoted to CEO; Matt Richard to CFO, replacing Dave Olson, a board member; Chip Bulloch to senior vice president-East, a new position; John Stevens, ex-Boingo Wireless, joins as regional vice president-West, replacing Chris Colton, deceased ... Correction: Trent Harkrader, who has stepped down as acting FCC Wireless Bureau chief, has been at the agency since 1999 (see 2504280019).
EchoStar's Hughes subsidiary has reached Jupiter 3 coordination agreements with SpaceX and other non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite operators, but talks with Amazon about its Kuiper constellation continue, EchoStar told the FCC Space Bureau in a filing posted Tuesday. The coordination agreements -- to ensure that Jupiter 3 operations at 18.8-19.3 GHz and 28.6-29.1 GHz don't cause harmful interference -- were a condition of the approval of the satellite, which launched in 2023. EchoStar said it has met with Kuiper and the FCC on multiple occasions in coordination discussions. With the coordination agreement to be reached at least 60 days before launch of the NGSO system, EchoStar said it was submitting to the FCC its interference protection plan for Kuiper operations at 18.8-19.3 GHz and 28.6-29.1 GHz. The inaugural batch of Kuiper's satellites intended for commercial broadband service launched Monday and "were operating as expected in low earth orbit," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote Tuesday on X.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez hopes broadcasters “will show courage” in the face of FCC threats against free speech and a free press, she said Monday in an interview on CNN. “The danger of any kind of capitulation by any entity that capitulates to demands to censor or chill speech is it breeds further capitulation,” she said. “It is my hope, in fact, that we will see more courage, and we will see more pushback against this administration.” She also said there's no evidence that CBS violated FCC news distortion rules.
New CTIA President Ajit Pai, former chairman of the FCC, met with Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington and their aides, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 25-59. Pai previously met with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr (see 2504230015).
One change of note in the 37 GHz order and Further NPRM approved 4-0 on Monday by the FCC (see 2504280032), when compared with the draft version, is the addition of language on the development of a dynamic spectrum management system (DSMS) in the band. The FCC posted the approved item Tuesday. It “does not foreclose the adoption of a DSMS in the future,” the FNPRM now says: “We seek comment on the possibility of replacing the coordination framework we adopt today with a DSMS. What metrics might the Commission use to determine that use of the 37 GHz band has reached sufficient scale to merit further exploration of adopting a DSMS to coordinate use of the band?”