Former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said Wednesday that while he has long been a critic of the USF, he was relieved that the U.S. Supreme Court last week didn’t overturn the program (see 2506270054). Cutting off support that USF recipients need would be “a terrible outcome,” O’Rielly said during a Broadband Breakfast webinar.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez on Wednesday called for the FCC to investigate how criminals are using spectrum jammers in burglaries, saying she has discussed the issue with Chairman Brendan Carr. The commission's lone Democrat, Gomez appeared on a webcast interview with Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton.
House action on the Senate-cleared version of the HR-1 budget reconciliation package, previously known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, appeared in doubt Wednesday afternoon amid resistance from several GOP lawmakers. Critics of Senate Commerce Committee Republicans’ HR-1 spectrum language held out hope amid the ruckus that lawmakers would make additional bands ineligible for potential reallocation. The Senate narrowly passed its HR-1 language Tuesday (see 2507010070).
Paramount Global has agreed to a settlement in President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against CBS over its editing of a 60 Minutes interview last October with former Vice President Kamala Harris during the election, the company said.
Now with a Republican majority, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday laid out policy priorities that range from accelerating and easing broadband infrastructure deployment to tackling blue-collar workforce issues.
The Media Bureau has approved Sinclair’s sale of five stations to Rincon Broadcasting and waived a limit on common ownership of top-four stations in the same market, said an order Tuesday. The bureau also rejected a petition to deny the deal from recently formed public interest group Frequency Forward (see 2504150056). The group’s “allegations concerning Sinclair’s character qualifications have repeatedly been considered and rejected,” the order said.
The FCC signed off Tuesday on T-Mobile and SpaceX's requested waiver of agency equipment authorization rules related to handsets receiving supplemental coverage from space (SCS) service (see 2504090038). In the order (docket 23-65), the Office of Engineering and Technology and Space Bureau said applying the rules would stymie T-Mobile subscribers and first responders from accessing SCS "through no fault of their own, because the holders of equipment authorizations for certain devices have failed to submit requests for waivers to allow those devices to access SCS."
Citizens Against Government Waste on Tuesday supported Verizon's request that the FCC remove the unlocking commitment stipulated as a condition of approving the company’s purchase of Tracfone (see 2505200051). “The FCC should bring parity to the marketplace by granting Verizon’s request,” said a filing in docket 24-186. “The FCC should help mobile providers by eliminating the unlocking requirements that open the gate to cell phone trafficking, fraud and other illegal activities.”
T-Mobile and Grain Management jointly asked the FCC to approve a transaction in which Grain would buy all of T-Mobile's 800 MHz spectrum in exchange for cash and Grain's 600 MHz spectrum portfolio (see 2503210033). Oppositions were due Monday in docket 25-178.
The FCC Wireline Bureau on Tuesday accepted for filing CenturyLink's proposal to discontinue its Engage Business VoIP service covering all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Objections are due July 16 in docket 25-206. Absent further action, a CenturyLink request to discontinue the service will be “deemed granted” Aug. 1, the bureau said.