The Electronic Privacy Information Center, the R Street Institute and Public Knowledge jointly defended the FCC's January declaratory ruling and NPRM in response to the Salt Typhoon cyberattacks (see 2501160041). The groups met with staff from the FCC Public Safety Bureau, said a filing posted Monday in docket 22-329.
Progeny updated the FCC on its progress in meeting the buildout requirements for parts of its 900 MHz multilateration location and monitoring service (M-LMS) licenses, urging the agency to act on a request by parent company NextNav to use the spectrum for terrestrial position, navigation and timing (see 2404160043). This was Progeny’s 22nd FCC progress report. It also mentioned the notice of inquiry that commissioners approved 4-0 in March on alternatives to GPS for PNT (see 2503270042).
Apple and Meta Platforms representatives met with FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff on a proposed geofenced variable power (GVP) device class in the 6 GHz band (see 2408270034). They discussed GVP use cases, said a filing posted Monday in docket 18-295. “GVP will help enable a class of body-worn devices that can operate at power levels higher than very low power device power levels within permissible zones,” the companies said. “These higher powers will help address significant body loss that body-worn devices will experience.” Body loss is a form of signal attenuation.
CenturyLink asked the FCC for another 60-day extension on its application for the emergency impairment of service in limited parts of the Florence, Colorado, wire center, which was damaged by flooding in 2018. “There is no timeline for rebuilding the road that was washed out by the flooding,” said a filing posted Monday (docket 19-69). The U.S. Forest Service “continues to believe it is still years away even from evaluating the possibility of rebuilding that service road, given how unsettled the terrain remains from the flooding,” the carrier said. “Temporary cable continues not to be a feasible solution to provide service due to the rugged, mountainous terrain and instability in the area.”
The Senate’s Monday executive calendar said two cloture motions for Republican FCC nominee Olivia Trusty would “ripen” at 5:30 p.m., meaning they would be eligible for votes this week, as expected (see 2506130065). Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., filed last week for cloture on both of Trusty’s nominations -- one to finish out the term of former Democratic FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, which ends June 30, and a subsequent full five-year term. Trusty is very likely to clear the Senate’s majority-vote cloture threshold for executive branch nominees on what lobbyists expect to be unanimous GOP support. Thune previously indicated he was likely to move up Trusty in confirmation priority after Republican FCC commissioner Nathan Simington abruptly departed the commission earlier this month (see 2506040073). Simington’s exit and the simultaneous departure of Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks left the commission in a 1-1 tie and lacking a quorum.
The offices of Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., continued sparring Monday over panel Republicans’ proposed spectrum language for the chamber’s budget reconciliation package. The proposal, which Cruz released earlier this month, would renew the FCC’s lapsed auction authority through Sept. 30, 2034, and mandate an 800 MHz pipeline of spectrum for licensed sale (see 2506060029). The measure proposes excluding the 3.1-3.45 GHz and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands from potential reallocation. Cantwell repeatedly criticized Republicans’ proposal last week as inadequately protecting DOD-controlled airwaves (see 2506120084).
The video distribution marketplace is in the midst of rapid and massive upheaval, but video rules experts were divided in a panel talk Monday about what needs to be done in response. At the Congressional Internet Caucus Academy event, former FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly called for eliminating the vast majority of the rules governing video distribution. Localities lawyer Cheryl Leanza of Best Best warned of the tendency of a "knee-jerk reaction" to deregulate without looking at why existing rules were adopted. Some archaic rules need to be done away with, she said, but rules that promote democracy and civic discourse must be maintained.
Public interest groups defended most parts of the FCC’s July order implementing the Martha Wright-Reed Act of 2022 (see 2501280053) in a brief filed Monday at the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (24-8028). Incarcerated people’s communications services (IPCS) providers and the National Sheriffs’ Association argued to the court why the order should be overturned. Last week, the government also defended the order (see 2506120078).
Analysts said the FCC is unlikely to act soon on its twin EchoStar proceedings given that the White House seems to want to avoid an EchoStar bankruptcy. The agency is probing whether the company is using the 2 GHz band for mobile satellite service and looking into the deadline extensions EchoStar received for its 5G network buildout (see 2505130003).
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.