Mega constellation operators are pushing back on an FCC proposal that would charge more regulatory fees for big non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) constellations. Docket 24-85 reply comments this week also saw numerous calls for imposing fees on authorized systems that aren't yet operational and for phasing in any big fee hikes. The FCC in March adopted an NPRM on regulatory fee changes for satellite and earth stations due to the agency reorganization that created the Space Bureau, with initial comments received last month (see 2404150040). Amazon's Kuiper said the agency should reject proposals such as putting a particularly big share of NGSO fees' burden on large constellations that are not backed by full-time equivalent (FTE) staff allocations. SpaceX said the relative activity in licensing dockets isn't a reasonable proxy for apportioning fees. As a result, the agency shouldn't impose higher fees on NGSO mega constellations based on the number of filings in those NGSO licensing dockets. Increased fees would reward obstructionist competitors gaming the comment system, SpaceX said. FCC records show the largest NGSO constellations are responsible for a disproportionate share of the regulatory burden, Telesat said. It said the record shows substantial support for allocating a share of at least 30% of aggregate Space Bureau regulatory fees to earth station regulation. Phase in any new or hiked Space Bureau regulatory fees over years to ease the financial burden, NCTA said. It said the FCC should stick to its calculations for how many FTEs work on earth station matters, rather than considering unsubstantiated arguments for shifting more of the Space Bureau's regulatory fee burden onto earth station operators. It said no one has offered an argument for putting regulatory fees on receive-only earth stations, and thus the agency shouldn't do so. Eutelsat/OneWeb called "reasonable" the proposed 60/40 allocation between geostationary and NGSO systems, respectively. Also backing tiers of NGSO regulatory fees based on constellation size, it said larger constellations "raise additional issues that require more FTE time," such as orbital debris and larger earth station networks. EchoStar and DirecTV also backed the NGSO subcategories based on constellation size and assessing fees on authorized but not yet operational systems, as did SES/O3b, which also urged a several-year phase-in of fee increases due to the Space Bureau's creation. Viasat also urged that NGSOs cover a greater allocation of satellite fees and backed the NGSO subcategories. The $400,000 annual regulatory fee that small non-voice, non-geostationary mobile satellite systems are facing under the FCC proposal is "unsustainable" and make operating NVNG MSS systems in the U.S. a challenge, Myriota said. NVNG MSS systems consume fewer FCC resources than other small NGSO constellations, it added.
The FCC Wireless Bureau approved a waiver that Saab TransponderTech sought concerning the commission’s part 80 rules to allow authorization of Saab’s R60 Automatic Identification System (AIS) Aids to Navigation (AtoN) station. An AtoN is “any device external to a vessel or aircraft intended to assist a navigator to determine position or safe course, or to warn of dangers or obstructions to navigation,” said an order posted in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. Though the commission’s part 80 rules “currently do not provide for the authorization of AIS AtoN equipment, we find that authorizing this AIS AtoN serves the paramount goal of part 80 by promoting maritime safety through the use of radio technology,” the bureau said.
Various carriers certified that they're in compliance with new mandatory disaster response initiative (MDRI) requirements the FCC approved last year (see 2207060070). The agency mandated a May 1 compliance date for all carriers, regardless of size. GCI said it “complies with the Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative Framework’s existing provisions, and has implemented internal procedures to ensure that it remains in compliance." Other carriers, including C Spire, Vitelcom Cellular, Commnet Wireless and NTUA Wireless, also filed certifications, posted Wednesday in docket 21-346.
Competitive Carriers Association President Tim Donovan and others from the group met with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr to discuss broadband mapping and other 5G Fund concerns. They discussed “eligibility issues such as whether eligibility is limited to areas with unsubsidized 5G defined as 7/1 Mbps and 5G Fund eligibility concerns regarding legacy support recipients using federal funds to deploy 4G and 5G networks” and “timing of the trigger to shift from legacy support to 5G Fund support,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 20-32. CCA also raised funding issues.
Charter Communications told the FCC that several census block groups (CBGs) the company "inadvertently included" were awarded funding through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction. In a letter Wednesday in docket 19-126, the company listed seven CBGs in Missouri and two in Wisconsin. Charter cited pole replacement obstacles last week in its initial letter surrendering dozens of CBGs (see 2404260059).
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr appeared on a News Nation broadcast Tuesday to opine on protests at Columbia University over the conflict in Gaza, according to a Carr X post Wednesday. On the broadcast, Carr said he was in New York for work and “thought it was important to express some appreciation for what the NYPD is doing out here,” and witness the protest. He said the First Amendment protects political speech but not violent conduct. “That includes storming buildings,” he said. “Everyone here has the right to express their viewpoints, however vile,” Carr tweeted.
FCC commissioners will vote at their May 23 open meeting on an NPRM proposing labs from companies on the agency’s “covered list” of unsecure firms be barred from participating in the equipment authorization process. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr announced the NPRM Wednesday. “This new proceeding would permanently prohibit Huawei and other entities on the FCC’s Covered List from playing any role in the equipment authorization program while also providing the FCC and its national security partners the necessary tools to safeguard this important process,” a news release said. “We must ensure that our equipment authorization program and those entrusted with administering it can rise to the challenge posed by persistent and ever-changing security and supply chain threats,” Rosenworcel said. The NPRM is “another significant step in the FCC’s work to advance the security of America’s communications networks,” Carr said: It proposes “to ensure that the test labs and certification bodies that review electronic devices for compliance with FCC requirements are themselves trustworthy actors that the FCC can rely on.” The NPRM builds on a 2022 order, which bans FCC authorization of gear from companies including Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications, Hikvision and Dahua Technology (see 2211230065). Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit remanded part of that order to the FCC to further develop the definition of critical infrastructure (see 2404020068). Commissioners will also consider an adjudicatory matter from the Media Bureau, and four items from the Enforcement Bureau as part of the abbreviated agenda, per Rosenworcel's note. She thanked other commissioners for their work on national security issues. “Working together, we have enacted and enforced rules to safeguard our wired and wireless networks from communications equipment that has been determined to pose an unacceptable risk to national security,” she said.
Catholic broadcasters and groups filed two petitions for reconsideration against the FCC’s equal employment opportunity order in part because it updates Form 395-B to account for nonbinary employees.
TechFreedom urged the FCC not to use an “obscure provision” on digital discrimination, buried deep in the “enormous” Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, to “smuggle onerous common-carrier regulations” onto the internet. TechFreedom’s position was detailed as part of an amicus brief Tuesday (docket 24-1179) in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said Wednesday she's talking to a range of lawmakers seeking potential changes to an amended version of her draft Spectrum and National Security Act after the panel pulled Cantwell’s bill and 12 others from a planned Wednesday markup session Tuesday night (see 2404300072). The potential for the spectrum bill to make it into the bipartisan 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act “got precluded weeks ago,” Cantwell told reporters. The Senate voted 89-10 to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the FAA bill as a substitute for Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act (HR-3935). Lawmakers are still eyeing other vehicles for allocating stopgap money to keep the FCC’s ailing affordable connectivity program running through the remainder of the year. Those proposals include a bid from Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, that would attach an amendment to the FAA package appropriating ACP $7 billion (see 2405010055).