Supporters of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-979/S-315) are pressing for the House Commerce Committee and congressional leaders to prioritize the measure when lawmakers return from the August recess, given that they have repeatedly put it on the back burner in recent months. HR-979 and S-315, which the Senate Commerce Committee advanced in February (see 2502100072), would require the Department of Transportation to mandate that future automobiles include AM radio technology, mostly affecting electric vehicles. The bill’s supporters unsuccessfully tried to attach it to a December continuing resolution to extend federal appropriations (see Ref:2412180033]).
The decision Friday by public interest groups not to challenge the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ narrow decision overturning last year’s net neutrality order appeared to be based on a number of considerations, including avoiding a precedent that could prevent future FCC rules (see 2508080020). Friday was the deadline to file a petition for certiorari seeking U.S. Supreme Court review. Some lawyers saw the 6th Circuit’s decision as badly reasoned and susceptible to further review (see 2507160048).
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr appoints Enforcement Bureau Chief Technology Officer Andy Hendrickson as chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology, replacing acting Chief Ira Keltz, who returns to deputy chief ... Changes at Eutelsat Group: Eric Labaye, IDEL Partners, named board chairman, replacing Dominique D’Hinnin, stepping down; Lucia Sinapi-Thomas, Capgemini, joins as independent board member; Guillemette Kreis, French Government Shareholding Agency, acknowledged as France’s board representative; Michel Combes, SoftBank, resigns from board … Hughes Fire Equipment names Ryan Burchnell, formerly AT&T, as CEO of Emergency Technical Decon and Emergent and chief operating partner for Hughes Enterprises, newly created positions.
An FCC order conforming certain rules “to reflect the rules that are actually in effect,” resulting from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision invalidating the agency's latest net neutrality order (see 2501020028), becomes effective Friday, according to a Federal Register notice released Thursday. The order also addresses the 8th Circuit's 2002 Iowa Utilities Board II decision.
The Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force launched a new crackdown Thursday. Made up of 51 state attorneys general, it sent warning letters to 37 providers calling on them to stop letting such calls be routed through their networks. Operation Robocall Roundup told the providers that they either failed to respond to numerous traceback notices from USTelecom's Industry Traceback Group or transmitted suspicious robocall campaigns regarding tax debt, loan approval and, in one instance, ISP impersonation. "We are giving these companies three weeks to start following the rules so we can shield people from these annoying and illegal robocalls," said North Carolina AG Jeff Jackson (D). The task force also sent letters to 99 downstream providers that accept traffic from the 37 companies. Seven of the 37 providers targeted by the task force were among those removed from the FCC's Robocall Mitigation Database this week (see 2508060041).
The FCC should finalize rules clarifying the use of the citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) band, Federated Wireless urged in a filing posted Thursday in docket 17-258. “Immediate Commission action is needed to provide certainty and reassurance to the operators and investors who are actively driving growth and innovation in this critical shared spectrum band.”
The Environmental Health Trust (EHT) petitioned the FCC asking it to act on a 2021 remand from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit of the agency’s 2019 RF safety rules (see 2108130073). The petition was posted Thursday in docket 13-84.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation highlighted the issues before the FCC most critical for its members in a letter to Commissioner Olivia Trusty, posted Thursday in 18-89 and other dockets. Among the issues cited was the auto industry’s need for more spectrum for cellular-vehicle-to-everything operations. “The current 30 MHz spectrum allocation (5.895-5.925 GHz) does not support advanced use cases, such as the sharing of sensor data between vehicles,” the filing said. The alliance also stressed its opposition to revising the FCC “covered list” to put more focus on connected vehicles (see 2506300052).
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced Thursday he has named Enforcement Bureau Chief Technology Officer Andy Hendrickson as chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology. He replaces acting Chief Ira Keltz, who returns to deputy chief. Hendrickson joined the FCC last year after nearly a decade at Verizon, where he was most recently a senior director of the provider’s cloud platform. Historically, most chief engineers get the job after long service within OET. Keltz had been at the FCC for 30 years before he was tapped as acting chief last year, replacing Ron Repasi (see 2410030057).
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies at Dish Network must end, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Thursday. Speaking with reporters at the agency's August meeting, Carr said he has "been very clear to regulated entities that they should be ending their own promotion of invidious forms of DEI discrimination." Advocacy group Consumers' Research has criticized Dish for alleged DEI policies (see 2507240042) and this week urged Carr and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate. Noting FCC investigations regarding DEI activity at Comcast and Verizon (see 2503280038), Carr said such engagement "has proven to be successful in making sure they're complying" with the agency's equal opportunity policies. "So whether it's Dish or anyone else, we would expect them to come to compliance with the FCC's approach." Dish parent EchoStar didn't comment.