The full FCC should overturn the Media Bureau’s dismissal of the Media and Democracy Project’s petition to deny against Fox’s WTXF Philadelphia, MAD said in a response filing in docket 25-11 Monday. Fox argued earlier this month that the FCC should affirm the Media Bureau order, which came under previous FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Current Chairman Brendan Carr reinstated petitions against NBC, ABC, and CBS that Rosenworcel had dismissed but didn't resurrect MAD's Fox petition. MAD conceded in a news release Monday that “it's unlikely" Carr "will move quickly to review MAD's appeal.” Fox said MAD “has sought to treat Fox 29 Philadelphia as collateral in its efforts to punish Fox 29 Philadelphia’s corporate parent for speech disfavored by MAD that never even aired on the broadcast station.” The bureau order dismissing MAD’s petition “properly applied the Communications Act and FCC precedent,” Fox added. It continued that MAD hasn’t identified Fox conduct that is relevant to the FCC character standards.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center and other groups are backing a National Consumer League petition (see 2502200004) for the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear a case on the FCC's one-to-one telemarketing consent rule. An 11th Circuit panel previously held that the FCC exceeded its authority with the rule. In a proposed amicus brief Friday (docket 24-10277), EPIC and others said the one-to-one consent rule is an effective anti-robocall tool that doesn't hurt business because it only restricts how Telephone Consumer Protection Act consents can be obtained and bars their resale. The groups said the panel's reasoning could undo long-standing consumer protections, such as written consent for telemarketing robocalls. Also behind the EPIC filing were Consumer Federation of America, Public Knowledge and the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates.
Verizon representatives met with FCC Wireless Bureau staff to discuss the spectral dynamics of the citizens broadband radio service band. While higher allowed equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) levels create “larger cells, which offer more coverage area, propagation losses are identical, regardless of power level,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 17-258. “The propagation ‘slope’ dictates the ratio of cell edge (cell size area) to interfered area. … This ratio (interference area/cell area) is the same regardless of cell size or allowed EIRP.”
Field Radio Systems asked the FCC to certify it as a commercial operator license examination manager. The company “specializes in off-grid and field communication solutions, providing both equipment and educational training for amateur radio operators, communities, and industry professionals,” said an undocketed filing posted Monday: “We operate a robust Learning Management System for administering technical training and certification courses.”
A lawyer for the International Bridge, Tunnel & Turnpike Association spoke with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to ask about adding a question to the commission's draft notice of inquiry on alternatives to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT). Commissioners are slated to vote on the NOI on March 27 (see 2503060061). NextNav’s proposal for PNT in the 900 MHz band has long been controversial. The NOI should ask about “interference implications for incumbent spectrum users associated with any of the PNT solutions discussed in this NOI,” the association said in a filing posted Monday in docket 25-110. “The addition of this question will produce a more complete record to support Commission decision-making.”
Starry representatives provided an update on the company’s operations and the importance of the 37 GHz band in a meeting with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. The band is critical “for serving a variety of use cases, especially the band’s unique capacity to enable robust broadband services, including gigabit fixed broadband,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 24-243. Starry “encouraged the Commission to continue its efforts to make spectrum available for innovative wireless services by finalizing the sharing rules for the Lower 37 GHz Band in the near term.” The 37 GHz band was the topic of a DOD study completed last year as part of the Joe Biden administration’s national spectrum strategy (see 2412030057). In August, the FCC released a public notice about the band's future (see 2408090034).
Totah Communications asked the FCC for a waiver after the Oklahoma-based company missed a Connect America Fund filing deadline because of “technical difficulties.” Those “difficulties prevented the proper certification of performance testing, in which the data had been uploaded and was in full compliance with the testing requirements,” said a filing Friday in docket 10-90. “The subsequent missed certification, which is procedural rather than substantive, has no impact on the Commission’s or [the Universal Service Administrative Co.’s] ability to assess Totah’s compliance with broadband deployment requirement,” it said. “Totah’s penalty was assessed as a pro-rata amount of its universal support allocation for each day beyond the compliance deadline,” which amounts to an estimated $186,278, “an extremely severe penalty given that Totah fulfilled all other testing requirements and one that will impose a financial hardship on the company as it seeks to provide voice and broadband to its Southeastern Kansas and Northeastern Oklahoma customers.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau granted in part Broadband VI’s (BBVI) petition for waiver of its 40% deployment milestone deadline under the Connect USVI Fund, but only until June 30. The original deadline was Dec. 31, 2024. The company sought a waiver through the end of this year. “We find that the public interest is served by granting an additional brief waiver to allow BBVI to come into compliance as quickly as possible with commitments it made as a recipient” of USF support “for the benefit of all residents in the U.S. Virgin Islands,” said an order in Monday’s Daily Digest.
President Donald Trump signed off Saturday on a continuing resolution that extends current federal funding levels for the FCC, NTIA and other agencies through Sept. 30. The Senate voted 54-46 Friday night to approve the House-passed CR, as expected (see 2503140069).
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks plans to resign this spring, he said in a statement Tuesday. An FCC official told us it’s not yet clear if there's a replacement Democratic commissioner lined up. Starks previously signaled that he wouldn’t leave the agency if his departure would shift the FCC to a Republican majority.