The FCC Enforcement Bureau has proposed $20,000 forfeitures for each of three pirate radio operators in the New York market, said notices of apparent liability in Monday’s Daily Digest. One of the proposed penalties, against Robert Bekune in Irvington, New Jersey, goes back to violations found in 2018, when bureau agents tracked an unauthorized signal to an industrial property with a large sign advertising “PowerHouse Radio 98.5 FM” and “Founder Rev. Prophet Robert Bekune.” Agents found the station operating again in 2023, with the same sign in place, said the notice. Two other NALs were issued to pirates in Spring Valley, New York. Jean Boncoeur and Etzer Toussaint were found allegedly operating unauthorized stations called "Radio Gold Stars" and "Radio Tele Model," respectively, in January 2025.
Free State Foundation President Randolph May laid out in a filing Monday the case for a pilot program before the FCC approves an order allowing prison officials to more broadly jam cellphone signals. Industry experts say a pilot may be the FCC’s best option, given the level of concern raised by the wireless industry (see 2601020006). Reply comments were due Monday in docket 13-111.
A judge for the U.S. District Court for Northern Indiana on Friday upheld a decision by the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) in Elkhart, Indiana, to deny Verizon Wireless’ application to build a 135-foot monopole. In 2024, the court found that by not issuing a written reason, the city improperly denied the carrier’s application and sent the matter back to the BZA for further work (see 2409090036), which the board did. The case comes as industry urges the FCC to revise its rules to speed deployments (see 2601050029).
The FCC's proceeding on streamlining wireline deployment permitting shows the fundamental policy schism between the desire to speed up broadband buildouts nationwide and the desire to preserve local governance over rights-of-way and community planning, Ice Miller's Meagan Sunn wrote last week. While the Communications Act gives the FCC authority to preempt state or local rules that prohibit provision of telecommunications services, the agency's attempt to define certain permitting parties as inherently prohibitive could lead to legal challenges over the scope of that authority and its interaction with long-standing local land-use and rights-of-way management powers, said Sunn, the law firm's senior director of government affairs.
The FCC Wireline Bureau on Monday approved BW Broadband’s acquisition of assets from Winn Telecom, an incumbent local exchange carrier serving Deerfield and Freemont townships in lower central Michigan. BW Broadband was formed for the purposes of the proposed deal and is a subsidiary of the Blanchard Telephone Association, the bureau said. BW will become the new ILEC in that market. The companies state that Blanchard has “substantial expertise in communications infrastructure,” and BW Broadband “will invest in new infrastructure,” the bureau said.
Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy confirmed to us Monday that he will be among the witnesses at an expected Senate Commerce Committee hearing later this month examining the FCC’s national TV station audience reach cap. Ruddy has vocally opposed proposals for the FCC to eliminate or ease the 39% cap (see 2512150046).
Leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations committees released a compromise FY 2026 minibus spending package (HR-7006) on Sunday night that would mirror President Donald Trump’s request to increase the FCC’s annual funding but decrease the FTC’s allocation (see 2506020056). Meanwhile, the Senate planned to vote Monday night on the motion to invoke cloture on the House-passed minibus FY26 package (HR-6938), which would increase NTIA’s annual funding to $50 million (see 2601080070).
Consumers’ Research and its allies outlined the legal reasoning behind their latest attack on the legality of the USF contribution factor, filing a brief Monday with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals explaining why the conservative circuit should once again declare the factor unconstitutional.
FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty laid out a framework for the agency to work on protecting communications networks from national security threats in a speech Monday to the Hudson Institute, saying that doing so has become a priority for her as a commissioner. Modernizing U.S. communications networks requires updating legacy infrastructure, hardening “critical nodes” such as submarine cable landing stations and 911 centers, improving space and satellite security, and using data and AI to spot threats, she said. She called on the FCC to better protect submarine cables by coordinating with other agencies and the intelligence community; focus on stronger cross-border spectrum coordination; and “help support more robust situational awareness tools for state, local, and tribal emergency authorities.” Local officials "increasingly depend on timely, accurate, and actionable information about network outages, and modernizing those tools would strengthen response and recovery during crises."
Paramount Skydance is ratcheting up its fight to try to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, saying Monday that it's suing WBD in Delaware Chancery Court. Paramount also said it will nominate a slate of directors for WBD's annual meeting who would enter into a transaction with Paramount rather than Netflix. WBD's board has recommended that shareholders support Netflix's proposed purchase of WBD (see 2601070048).