Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., said during a Thursday Punchbowl News event he would prefer the chamber pursue a middle-ground between the Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) and 2024 Spectrum Pipeline Act (S-3909) as a legislative package for renewing the FCC’s lapsed airwaves auction authority. He also voiced concerns about the Biden administration’s implementation of $65 billion in broadband money from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, echoing criticisms congressional Republicans raised about how long it has taken for funded projects to come online.
NTIA approved more than $12 million in Digital Equity Act state digital equity capacity grant program funding to Minnesota Wednesday. The state plans to use the funding for launching a digital opportunity leaders network pilot program and exploring potential models for a program similar to the FCC's affordable connectivity program. "For the first time, every state in the nation has a digital equity plan in place to promote widespread adoption of high-speed internet services," said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson: "Minnesota can now request access to the funds to put its digital equity plan into action." The agency also approved more than $9 million for Connecticut. That award "comes at a perfect time" to further the state's existing initiatives addressing the digital divide, said Gov. Ned Lamont (D): "We are grateful for this investment." Connecticut plans to use the funding to create an urban and rural digital navigator pilot program and build digital literacy and equity resources.
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will likely redirect the panel's airwaves legislative focus toward a version of his 2024 Spectrum Pipeline Act (S-3909) next year should Republicans control the Senate after the Nov. 5 elections and he becomes chairman. Cruz could face continued headwinds from DOD's staunchest Capitol Hill backers if he pursues legislation similar to S-3909, lobbyists and others predicted. Current Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., hopes she can attach her rival Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) to an end-of-year omnibus package (see 2409170066).
AT&T will pay a nearly $2.3 million fine under a settlement with the FCC for violations in the emergency broadband benefit program and affordable connectivity program. A Friday order said an Enforcement Bureau investigation found that AT&T sought and received funding for improperly enrolled non-subscriber benefit qualifying persons between "at least" May 2021 and December 2023. AT&T violated rules that require in-store sales personnel to obtain a representative accountability database identification number. The bureau also found that the ISP collected funds for subscribers who had not used their service for at least 45 days. Providers can receive reimbursement for "offering the ACP benefit when the subscriber has used the service at least once every 30 days or has cured their non-usage during a subsequent 15-day cure period."
T-Mobile’s Q3 2024 was the company’s “best Q3 in a decade,” said CEO Mike Sievert on an earnings call Wednesday. The company recorded the highest number of new postpaid phone subscribers for Q3 in 10 years, and also showed the lowest Q3 postpaid phone churn in T-Mobile’s history, executives said on the call. The company reported $16.7 billion in total service revenue in Q3, a 5% increase over the same quarter in 2023. CFO Peter Osvaldik said the carrier expects a “trough” in 2025 from the loss of the affordable connectivity program and Tracfone's transition to Verizon. However, he also said Q4 sales will likely top Q3's due to “holiday seasonality.” Asked about T-Mobile’s plans for supplemental coverage from space, Sievert said the company tested the service through a grant of special temporary authority during the recent hurricanes in Florida and North Carolina. The tech will be “off to the races soon,” Sievert said. Executives said the company had “optionality” for its 800 MHz spectrum. T-Mobile sought to auction off that spectrum earlier this year but didn’t receive qualifying bids. The spectrum isn’t currently part of its financial predictions or spectrum plan, Sievert said. DOJ gave T-Mobile’s proposed purchases of Lumos and Metronet the nod, but it awaits FCC approval, said General Counsel Mark Nelson. T-Mobile’s purchase of U.S. Cellular isn’t as far along, but Nelson said all three deals are expected to close in 2025.
Digital First Project Executive Director Nathan Leamer on Wednesday said whoever chairs the FCC during the next administration should take on a more forceful role in advocating for Congress to renew the commission’s lapsed spectrum auction authority. Leamer, who served as an aide to former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, said during a Georgetown University Center for Business and Public Policy webcast that whichever party wins the White House Nov. 5 will reexamine broadband affordability issues. He believes the FCC will have to brace for the impact of potential federal court rulings striking down its recent orders reclassifying broadband as a Communications Act Title II service and instituting anti-digital discrimination rules.
The California Public Utilities Commission is mulling ways it can support broadband adoption in the wake of the federal affordable connectivity (ACP) program ending, Communications Division Director Rob Osborn said during the California Broadband Council’s meeting Tuesday. The state is making significant progress advancing its broadband-for-all goals, reported Scott Adams, deputy director of the California Department of Technology (CDT) broadband and digital literacy office.
The FCC's mapping broadband health in America platform will soon include additional details on telehealth access and maternal health, the Connect2Health Task Force told commissioners during their open meeting Thursday (see 2409250041). While the FCC has adopted rules requiring georouting wireless calls to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, it's uncertain whether it will require georouting to other emergency helplines, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said during a news conference following the meeting. The 5-0 988 georouting approval was expected (see 2410040005). Commissioners also unanimously voted for adoption of an order on hearing aid compatibility requirements (see 2410170030) and tentatively selected applicants for new low-power FM station construction permits.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., “remains supportive” of the Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) “and believes Republicans and Democrats should come together on a robust spectrum package to ensure the U.S. has a competitive edge for 5G, while delivering affordable internet to American families and securing bipartisan national security and innovation priorities,” a spokesperson emailed. S-4207 would restore the FCC’s spectrum auction authority through Sept. 30, 2029, and provide a vehicle for allocating funding for the commission’s lapsed affordable connectivity program and other telecom priorities. Lead sponsor Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is eyeing potentially attaching the measure to an end-of-year package amid attempts to resurrect it after it repeatedly stalled earlier this year (see 2409170066). Schumer’s continued support for S-4207 is important because there was uncertainty about whether he would back a push to attach it to year-end legislation or pivot to prioritize a version of the Proper Leadership to Align Networks for Broadband Act (S-2238) that Senate Commerce amended in July to include funding for ACP and rip and replace (see 2408220041), lobbyists told us.
FCC Commissioners Nathan Simington and Geoffrey Starks warned the Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas that the FCC’s loss of general spectrum auction authority last year is hampering U.S. competitive efforts against major rivals in the 6G race. CTIA President Meredith Baker sounded a similar theme at the beginning of the conference, which CTIA sponsors with GSMA (see 2410080044).