The Trump Organization announced Monday that later this year, it will launch Trump Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator, and a gold-colored smartphone, which it said will eventually be made in the U.S. The launch would create ethics concerns regardless, but even more so given the Trump administration's pressure for the FCC to answer directly to the White House, public interest groups said.
FCC changes: Enforcement Bureau Assistant Bureau Chief Pamela Gallant is promoted to acting deputy bureau chief; Attorney Advisor at the Office of Engineering and Technology Tom Struble becomes acting chief of staff at the Office of Economics and Analytics.
The New York office of the FCC Enforcement Bureau sent warnings to several New York and New Jersey property owners about pirate radio broadcasts emanating from their properties, said an agency notice in Thursday’s Daily Digest. DRSD Management was warned about a property in Wesley Hills, New York, and the company 141 Coit Street was warned about a property in Irvington, New Jersey. Marie Louis and Yvons Louis received a warning about their property in Spring Hills, New York. All three warnings said the landowners could face up to a $2.4 million penalty for hosting unauthorized broadcasts.
NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt defended FCC Chairman Brendan Carr Friday after former Commissioner Nathan Simington criticized Carr for not streamlining agency policies around ATSC 3.0 (see 2506120088). “NAB has seen first-hand FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s leadership and ongoing commitment to the successful deployment of ATSC 3.0,” LeGeyt said in an emailed statement. “Chairman Carr has also made clear that he understands what’s at stake: ensuring every viewer has access to free, local broadcast television that meets the evolving needs of the modern media landscape.”
Beyond SMS texting, no other texting formats have been implemented or requested to be implemented with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, the FCC Wireline Bureau said Friday (docket 18-336). The bureau annually provides notification about what texting formats are required or seeks comment on parameters for any additional text message formats transmitting to 988.
The New York Senate voted 45-14 Thursday to approve a bill that would address junk fees. S-363 would require businesses, such as ISPs and cable providers, to display certain mandatory fees and the total price of their services. In addition, it would exclude "any tax, duty, fee or custom levied by any local, state, federal or other governmental or quasi-governmental entity" from its list of mandatory fees. Fourteen Senate Democrats introduced the legislation, the New York Junk Fee Prevention Act, in January. Providers would be deemed in compliance if they're abiding by the FCC's consumer broadband label rules. The bill accounts for the possibility of the FCC's rules no longer being applicable and establishes similar provisions for providers. Such mandatory fees would include surcharges that are "not reasonably avoidable" to make a purchase or require action by a consumer to remove them.
The FCC ordered Asian Touch Spa of West Palm Beach, Florida, to identify steps the company will take after it was found to be operating a Qiangyin Bluetooth speaker that was causing interference to AT&T FirstNet’s network. After FCC agents notified the company of the interference from a signal centered on 795 MHz, the speaker was shut down, said a notice in Friday’s Daily Digest. “You have ten (10) days from the date of this notice to respond concerning your operation of this part 15 device,” the notice said. “Your response should describe the steps you are taking to avoid operating on unauthorized frequencies and preventing future interference.”
NextNav reported Friday on meetings at the FCC urging the agency to launch an NPRM on its proposal for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) in the lower 900 MHz band. NextNav representatives met with an aide to Commissioner Anna Gomez and staff at the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology.
The Ecommerce Innovation Alliance had meetings at the FCC concerning the group’s pursuit of a declaratory ruling that people who provide prior express written consent to receive text messages can't claim damages under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act for messages received outside the hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. (see 2503030036). The group is being represented on the issue by former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly and met with staff from the Consumer and Governmental Affairs and Wireless bureaus, said a filing Thursday in docket 02-278.
Numerous groups filed in support of Verizon's request that the FCC delete the unlocking commitment it stipulated as a condition of approving the company’s purchase of Tracfone (see 2505200051). Among those on the filing were the American Consumer Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, Citizens Against Government Waste, the American Association of Senior Citizens, the 60 Plus Association, the Institute for Technology and Network Economics and Less Government.