Federated Wireless representatives urged the FCC to protect citizens broadband radio service operations from harmful interference in a meeting with an aide to Chairman Brendan Carr. There are “practical, near-term improvements” to CBRS operations that “can be readily implemented,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 17-258. They include “more realistic incumbent protections, higher base station power and harmonized out-of-band emissions.”
The FCC released Monday a small-entity compliance guide on recent changes to wireless emergency alert rules (see 2502270042). “Participating wireless providers must support an alert originator’s selection of whether a WEA message will be presented silently, i.e., without triggering the common audio attention, the common vibration cadence, or both, in the mobile device presenting the WEA Alert Message,” the guide says. “If the alert originator indicates that a specific alert should not play the attention signal and should not cause the device to vibrate, then participating wireless providers should send those instructions to the device in an appropriate manner resulting in the device executing the instructions.”
A Trump administration cybersecurity executive order released Friday is a positive step in efforts to roll out the voluntary cyber trust mark program, the Consumer Technology Association said Monday. The order mandates that by Jan. 4, 2027, all IoT devices sold to the government must carry the cyber trust mark. “This is an important step in making many years of work by CTA, industry, and government to raise the bar on cybersecurity of connected devices a reality,” David Grossman, vice president of policy and regulatory affairs, said in an email. The program was approved 5-0 by FCC commissioners last year (see 2403140034).
The FCC received both support and additional questions in response to a public notice on the telecommunications relay services (TRS) fund administrator’s latest proposed provider compensation formulas and funding requirements (see 2505220039). Comments were due Friday in docket 03-123. The proposed formulas would apply starting July 1 and run through June 30, 2026.
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau approved a waiver Monday for the Edison Electric Institute, which asked for clarity that utilities have prior express consent under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to send demand response texts and calls to their customers (see 2503100047). “A tool utilities have to manage grid burden is ‘demand response’ communications that inform customers of actions that they can take to help avoid potential service disruptions and price increases during high demand periods, often saving money on their bills in the process,” the bureau said. “We confirm that such calls and texts are ‘closely related’ to the utility service. Our action will promote reliable utility service to customers as well as cost savings to consumers.”
“No new or novel issues should be considered” by the FCC until it has a quorum, said Commissioner Anna Gomez at a webinar hosted Monday by the Free Press Foundation. The agency doesn’t have a quorum because both Commissioner Nathan Simington and Geoffrey Starks resigned Friday (see 2506060035). The event was the latest in Gomez’s “First Amendment Tour” of speaking engagements on the FCC's and White House’s policies against media organizations. “New and novel” includes controversial matters like the Skydance/Paramount deal, Gomez said, adding that the agency shouldn’t use delegated authority to act on such matters without at least three commissioners. “Right now, we don't have a quorum, so we cannot have agency action on these types of matters,” she said. “Anything less would leave agency action subject to shaky legal ground.”
EchoStar allies and critics fortified their positions in the FCC's twin EchoStar proceedings in docket 22-212 and 25-173 reply comments, which were due Friday. The replies covered much of the same turf as initial comments did. One side argued that EchoStar has sunk billions into its 5G network buildout, and FCC action could chill future investments by it and others, while the opposing side questioned the legality of longer buildout deadlines (see 2505280002).
Wireless carriers are asking the FCC to trim old regulations and focus on flexible approaches in response to a March Further NPRM on wireless location accuracy. Public safety groups, including the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, want the FCC to put more emphasis on providing dispatchable location information (see 2506060031). Comments were due Friday in docket 07-114, and most were posted Monday.
Conservative groups and the Consumer Technology Association argued in reply comments filed by Friday’s deadline that a mandatory transition to ATSC 3.0, as NAB proposed, would fly in the face of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s deregulatory agenda. In its own comments, NAB argued that a mandate is necessary for broadcast competition, saying it's no different from the DTV transition.
The FCC should “refrain” from changing citizens broadband radio service power levels and out-of-band emissions limits in areas outside the contiguous U.S. (CONUS), GCI representatives said in a meeting with FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff. The Alaskan carrier continues to offer critical fixed satellite services over the C band in areas outside CONUS, “such as Alaska, which require protection from harmful interference,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 17-258. “Such services include long distance services to remote villages, special access services, connectivity to support FAA air travel safety systems and weather cameras, middle-mile capacity, the delivery of telehealth services, and mobile wireless coverage via 2G and LTE-over-Satellite wireless services, among other important services.”