Any 988 text georouting requirement of the FCC should be a generalized obligation that lets the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline administrator still work with industry to develop a solution compatible with the existing lifeline architecture, Mosaicx said. In a docket 18-336 filing Friday recapping meetings with aides to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioners Anna Gomez and Nathan Simington, Mosaicx said any generalized text georouting obligation also should keep the 988 lifeline's centralized routing structure. Mosaicx, which is building a text-to-988 georouting offering, said the agency should focus on supporting such purpose-built georouting solutions that achieve those objectives.
A February FCC order expanding the reach of the do-not-originate lists and strengthening call-blocking capabilities will take effect March 24, 2026, said a notice for Monday’s Federal Register. Commissioners approved the order 4-0 (see 2502270058).
Opponents of T-Mobile’s proposed buy of wireless assets from UScellular met with FCC staff to explain their concerns. The groups at the meeting were the Rural Wireless Association, EchoStar, Communications Workers of America, Public Knowledge, New America’s Open Technology Institute, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and the Computer & Communications Industry Association. They met with staff from the Wireless Bureau and the offices of Economics and Analytics and General Counsel, according to a filing posted Friday in docket 24-286.
T-Mobile subsidiary Nextel West said it plans to transition 13 2.5 GHz licenses it bought from Central Texas Communications (CTC), which were still being used for video operations, to the wireless broadband use allowed by the FCC starting in 2004. “Transition to the new band plan will allow for deployment of innovative and efficient communications technologies and services in the 2.5 GHz band,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 06-136. Before consummating the assignment, “CTC will discontinue the video operations that used the old channels under the terms” of an “opt-out waiver,” the filing said: “CTC was the only licensee in the area still licensed on the ‘old’ band plan.”
The FCC was successful in clearing part of the C band for 5G by incentivizing satellite operators to clear out, and it should use that framework for clearing 3.98-4.2 GHz, Intelsat told FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's office, according to a docket 25-59 filing Friday. Intelsat said it supported again using accelerated relocation payments and reimbursement for reasonable transition costs.
The FCC Public Safety Bureau sought comment Friday on a proposal by Ipswich, Massachusetts, to use frequency 154.6725 MHz, which is primarily for state police use, for public safety communications. Ipswich seeks a waiver to use the frequency “since it contends it is necessary due to unique and unusual circumstances and lack of reasonable alternatives,” the bureau said. The Massachusetts State Police supports Ipswich’s request, the bureau said. Comments are due April 21, replies May 6, and should reference File No. 0011397610.
Viya filed at the FCC a revised version of its annual report on its Connect USVI Fund Stage 2 fixed phase-down support for 2024. “In gathering information in response to a request by Commission staff for clarification of certain information in the Original 2024 Report, Viya discovered it had misstated the amount spent on and the percentage completion of one of the approved projects in its spending plan,” the company said in a filing last week in docket 18-143. The error came in information on a subsea cable project, but the revised details were redacted from the report.
Comments on a permanent freeze of jurisdictional separation rules are due April 23, replies May 8, according to a notice for Monday's Federal Register. The FCC requested the comments on behalf of the Federal-State Joint Board on Jurisdictional Separations in February (see 2502140059).
WISPA CEO David Zumwalt wrote Senate Commerce Committee leaders Friday in “strong support” of NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth ahead of her planned Thursday confirmation hearing (see 2503200066). Roth, who is Senate Commerce Republicans’ telecom policy director, “has demonstrated a strong commitment to enhancing U.S. economic growth and technological leadership,” Zumwalt said in a letter to panel Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. “She has played a leading role in crafting policies to address spectrum demand, among other matters, which are essential to the development and innovation of the broadband marketplace.”
The FCC’s new Council for National Security launched its first “major initiative” last week, sending letters to companies on the FCC’s “covered list,” including Chinese players Huawei and ZTE. The agency sent letters to all companies on the list with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and at least one subpoena, said a news release. It didn't mention Russia’s Kaspersky, on the list since March 2022 (see 2203250067). The FCC didn’t comment on the omission Friday.