Future rules for the 37 GHz band must protect licensed wireless operations in the upper 37 and 39 GHz bands and shouldn’t impose new emissions limits, CTIA said in comments on a Further NPRM aimed at spurring greater use of the spectrum. FCC commissioners approved an order and FNPRM on the band in April and comments were due Monday in docket 24-243. The National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on Radio Frequencies (CORF) repeated its concerns (see 2409300028) about protecting the 36-37 GHz earth exploration satellite service (EESS) band, which is critical for science, it said.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month upholding the USF in the Consumers’ Research case was a win for the FCC (see 2507020049), but the fight isn’t over, Jacob Lewis, FCC associate general counsel, said during an FCBA CLE on Tuesday. Lewis warned that Consumers’ Research has already renewed its challenge in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, making a different argument for overturning parts of the fund.
Charter Communications' proposed $34.5 billion purchase of Cox Communications, announced in May (see 2505160060), isn't expected to raise anticompetitive concerns at the FCC. If it faces headwinds from the agency, they are more likely to come from the companies' diversity, equity and inclusion policies, cable executives, agency watchers and others tell us. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has repeatedly said the agency won't approve acquisitions involving companies practicing "invidious forms of DEI discrimination" (see 2503210049), which Carr has defined as cases "where people are discriminating based on race and gender."
An AM station owner in Puerto Rico will pay $5,000 to settle an investigation into an unauthorized transfer of control, said a consent decree in Monday’s Daily Digest. Ricardo Angulo, who's now deceased, transferred 100% of the voting stock in A Radio Company, which owns WEGA Vega Baja, to Eddie Rivera in January 2023 but didn't file an application with the FCC until February 2024, the filing said. Under the terms of the settlement, the transfer will be approved as long as the penalty is paid within 30 days, it said. “Any proceedings that might result from the violations would be time-consuming and require a substantial expenditure of public and private resources.”
WISPA on Monday urged the FCC not to make disruptive changes to rules for the citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) band, which it said offers a “scalable rural broadband solution.” CBRS advocates have said they're concerned about potential changes to power levels in the band, which they see as possible under Chairman Brendan Carr (see 2503130049). The spectrum provisions in the reconciliation package signed into law by President Donald Trump also don’t exclude CBRS from potential reallocation (see 2507070045).
Public Knowledge and the National Congress of American Indians are asking the FCC to rethink draft rules for the AWS-3 reauction, which don’t include a window giving tribes a first shot at spectrum. They met with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, according to a filing posted Monday in docket 25-70. Commissioners are slated to vote July 24 on auction rules (see 2507030049).
UScellular provided answers to the FCC Wireline Bureau's questions on eligible telecom carrier (ETC) issues after closing its sale of spectrum, customers and other assets to T-Mobile. The filing was posted Monday in docket 09-197 but dated Saturday, the day after the bureau approved the deal (see 2507110045).
Prison-calling providers and the National Sheriffs’ Association supported the FCC’s request at the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the court hold the case in abeyance while the commission reconsiders rules approved last year. The Wireline Bureau recently delayed incarcerated people’s communications service (IPCS) deadlines until April 1, 2027 (see 2506300068).
The House passed the Precision Agriculture Satellite Connectivity Act (HR-1618) and five other Commerce Committee-cleared telecom bills Monday on voice votes. The others: the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences Codification Act (HR-1455), Communications Security Act (HR-1717), Promoting U.S. Wireless Leadership Act (HR-1765), NTIA Policy and Cybersecurity Coordination Act (HR-1766) and Open Radio Access Networks Outreach Act (HR-2037). The chamber was also expected to vote as soon as Monday night on the Understanding Cybersecurity of Mobile Networks Act (HR-1709).
The Rural Wireless Association will ask the full FCC to review an order passed by the Wireless Bureau's and Office of International Affairs' acting chiefs Friday approving T-Mobile’s purchase of wireless assets from UScellular (see 2507110045), the group said Monday in an emailed statement. But new Commissioner Olivia Trusty indicated her support for the three merger orders handed down last week, suggesting that Chairman Brendan Carr would likely have a majority for approval if he sought a commissioner vote.