The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday scheduled oral argument in a case examining the legality of the FCC’s prison-calling order. It's set for Oct. 7 at 9:30 a.m. in the En Banc Courtroom at the Moakley Courthouse in Boston. The court last month rejected the FCC's request to hold the case in abeyance given the Wireline Bureau’s decision to delay some incarcerated people’s communications service deadlines until April 1, 2027 (see 2507160027). “There will be no continuance except for grave cause,” the court said.
FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty said she will work with agency colleagues to address the digital divide in Alaska after a weeklong visit to the state, said a news release in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. Trusty’s trip involved meetings with “industry leaders, as well as federal, state, local, and Tribal stakeholders” on broadband expansion “to some of the nation’s most remote and difficult-to-serve areas,” the release said.
Regulatory changes being pushed by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr will likely have little effect on broadband deployment, New Street’s Blair Levin said during an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation webinar Tuesday. Other speakers noted that for the most part, the U.S. broadband market is highly competitive and getting more so, as fixed-wireless access and satellite broadband become more widespread.
A federal judge has ordered the FCC to produce information about the Department of Government Efficiency’s activities at the agency in response to a Freedom of Information Act request and lawsuit from journalist Nina Burleigh and public interest group Frequency Forward. The information released so far in response to the FOIA shows that one of the DOGE staffers detailed to the FCC may have had ties to its regulatees, including SpaceX.
In the biggest wireless deal since T-Mobile bought Sprint five years ago, AT&T announced Tuesday that it’s buying EchoStar spectrum for $23 billion (see 2508260005). EchoStar will continue to offer wireless service, but primarily as a mobile virtual network operator riding on AT&T’s network.
The White House's commercial space launch executive order, issued earlier this month (see 2508140004), will likely lead to the elimination of duplicative analyses that the FAA and other government agencies do, Covington staffers wrote Sunday. Space Force already does extensive analyses, such as calculating the expected casualty risks for every launch mission, and the FAA has said it would defer to federal range-safety processes for launches from the Eastern and Western ranges, wrote Stephanie Barna, Alan Estevez and Ethan Syster. However, they added, in practice the FAA still certifies those Space Force results independently, meaning launch providers and their customers can face two layers of scrutiny for the same safety models and data, which can increase confusion and delay. The FAA's ongoing review of its Part 450 space launch rules, backed by the order, "could address these pain points."
President Donald Trump said on social media Sunday that ABC and NBC should “lose their licenses” or else pay “Millions of Dollars a year in LICENSE FEES.” Broadcast networks aren't licensed by the FCC. Trump said in one post that ABC and NBC are biased and give him “97% BAD STORIES.” The networks “ARE SIMPLY AN ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND SHOULD, ACCORDING TO MANY, HAVE THEIR LICENSES REVOKED BY THE FCC,” Trump wrote. “I would be totally in favor of that because they are so biased and untruthful, an actual threat to our Democracy!!!” ABC and NBC should “lose their Licenses for their unfair coverage of Republicans and/or Conservatives, but at a minimum, they should pay up BIG for having the privilege of using the most valuable airwaves anywhere at anytime!!!” he added in another post. “Crooked ‘journalism’ should not be rewarded, it should be terminated!!!”
The FCC on Monday removed 1,203 additional voice providers from the Robocall Mitigation Database, following a recent order removing 185 (see 2508060041). The removals come after warnings were issued to 2,411 providers in December, ordering them to show why they shouldn’t be taken off the list (see 2412180015).
NTIA will host a spectrum policy symposium in Washington on Sept. 10, said a notice for Tuesday’s Federal Register. “Panelists are expected to include participants from the Executive Office of the President, the FCC, Executive Branch agencies, and leading wireless and satellite companies,” it said. The event will start at 9:30 a.m. at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.
Motorola Solutions asked the FCC to lift its 2018 900 MHz band freeze, countering arguments by Anterix that the freeze should be maintained. Anterix had a proposal before the agency asking it to authorize 5/5 MHz broadband deployments in the band (see 2405210041). The freeze “no longer serves its intended purpose,” Motorola Solutions said in a filing posted Monday in docket 24-99. “The freeze also imposes significant burdens on the maintenance and expansion of narrowband networks used to power critical emergency and public safety communications and deters new investment in narrowband technologies.”