The American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research urged the FCC to forbear from enforcing Communication Act Section 214 requirements in reply comments in the agency's copper retirement proceeding (see 2510010031). Carriers continue to build new networks “but are slowed by … outdated regulations,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 25-208. The FCC should update requirements “to bring them in line with the modern communications marketplace.” Industry has abandoned copper lines following the development of faster and more reliable technologies, but regulatory requirements remain, the group argued.
The Senate passed the Network Equipment Transparency Act (S-503) on Tuesday night by unanimous consent. The measure, which the Senate Commerce Committee advanced in May (see 2505210076), would direct the FCC to report every two years on the impact of gear availability on the deployment of broadband and other communications services as part of the commission’s assessment of the state of the communications marketplace.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
Staff departures under the current administration are starting to have an effect on federal permitting reviews, said Jill Springer, NTIA's senior adviser for permitting, during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. Amid a wave of departures from the federal government under President Donald Trump, Springer said the retirements are one of her biggest concerns.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez pushed back Tuesday on comments from Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, her aide Jonathan Uriarte and others suggesting that the agency could open a news distortion proceeding against CBS over its edits to a recent interview with President Donald Trump (see 2511030048). In online posts, both Uriarte and Schumer said that because the FCC targeted CBS for editing its interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, its policies require it to treat the Trump interview similarly.
Congress should eliminate the FCC’s broadcast-ownership rules, said American Action Forum President Douglas Holtz-Eakin in a blog post Tuesday. “The problem is that in the internet era there is no ‘local,’ so local ownership rules simply don’t make sense,” he wrote. “Consumers have myriad options to listen or watch in digital, internet-based media. Any need for competition or viewpoint diversity can be dealt with by their choices.” Broadcast-ownership rules “may be blocking the route to merger-based efficiencies and cost-saving that would permit the local media to more successfully compete with streaming services,” he added. “The solution is not to cling to the rules required by legacy legislation from your grandfathers’ media landscape. It is for Congress to provide the FCC with authorities that match the modern setting.”
Hong Kong Telecom (International) asked for additional time to respond to an FCC request to show why its international and domestic telecom authorizations shouldn’t be revoked (see 2510150067). The Chinese company wants an extra 30 days, until Dec. 15. “The Order requires the HKT Entities to respond to 37 separate requests for information,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 25-308.
Fixed-wireless access is driving 5G use cases, with 15 million subscribers today and “aspirations of over 20 million by 2028,” SBA Communications CEO Brendan Cavanagh told investors Monday as the company released Q3 results (see 2511030038).
Other providers of incarcerated people's communications services joined Inmate Calling Solutions in filing their annual prison-calling reports at the FCC and seeking to have the data redacted for competitive reasons (see 2511030027). Among the filings posted this week in docket 23-62 were reports from Securus Technologies, Pay Tel Communications, Combined Public Communications and Smart Communications.
The FCC’s order to revise incarcerated people’s communications services (IPCS) rates on an interim basis, approved by commissioners 2-1 last week (see 2510280045), will “hike prices by as much as 83% compared to the rates announced last year,” the Prison Policy Initiative said Tuesday. “Ultimately, these higher rate caps further burden incarcerated people and their families, while lining the pockets of companies and facilities.”