Former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Wednesday that he expects the White House to focus on getting Americans broadband connections and that as chair, he would have handled the rural digital opportunity fund (RDOF) differently if he had known the BEAD program would follow it.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions. New lawsuits since the last update are marked with an *.
The FAA might not be a good home for the Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST), and maybe it should move elsewhere, said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Also speaking Wednesday at the FAA and Commercial Space Federation's annual commercial space conference in Washington, House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Chairman Mike Haridopolos urged aggressive use of low earth orbit (LEO) broadband in BEAD, saying it would be a vastly cheaper approach.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday upheld a lower court’s dismissal of additional False Claims Act actions brought by lawyers Mark O’Connor and Sara Leibman, who allege that UScellular and other defendants fraudulently claimed that Frequency Advantage was a “very small business” qualifying for “designated entity” status and a bidding discount in FCC auctions (see 2303280061). Other defendants include King Street Wireless, Carroll Wireless and Barat Wireless. The case “must be dismissed because the frauds Leibman and O’Connor allege were publicly disclosed in an earlier lawsuit, and they are not original sources of the information,” Judge Neomi Rao wrote in a decision in docket 23-7044. “We therefore affirm the judgment of the district court.”
The Maine Connectivity Authority extended the deadline for subgrant applications for its BEAD program until March 7 at 5 p.m. ET, the agency announced in an email Friday. It said it pushed back the original Feb. 28 deadline after receiving "feedback from current applicants." The agency also noted that applicants are requesting BEAD funding to serve about 26,000 locations and 3,000 community anchor institutions across the state.
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar (R) is urging Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to “eliminate” the $42.5 billion, NTIA-administered BEAD program’s requirement that recipients offer a low-cost broadband service option, among other rules, as part of a broader revamp. Cruz said in November that the 119th Congress would review the program and requirements that have drawn GOP ire (see 2411220035). Hegar said in a letter to Cruz last week that his recommendations would collectively help the Texas Broadband Development Office better roll out its $3.3 billion BEAD allocation after an “unnecessarily protracted” NTIA approval process. Hegar believes “certain ‘nonessential’ requirements exceed the program's original intent and unnecessarily complicate its implementation.” The low-cost option “requirement is viewed as running counter to [the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s] legislative mandate against rate regulation,” Hegar told Cruz. “Removing this requirement may increase overall provider participation and support efficient deployment of funds.” It “would also reduce the administrative burden placed on [state broadband offices] to identify ‘eligible households’ and monitor subgrantee’s compliance with the requirement.” He also proposed that the federal government jettison other NTIA rules that congressional Republicans have criticized, including ordering that grantees adhere to prevailing wage requirements and “unnecessary” cybersecurity and workforce regulations. Hegar urged lawmakers “loosen or eliminate” requirements that BEAD projects go through National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act reviews. He also said Congress should “relax or eliminate guidelines regarding deployment of alternative technology in additional hard-to-reach areas.”
FCC claims that Telnyx didn't do enough to stop apparent scam calls made using its voice service platform are factually wrong, the company said Wednesday. Telnyx said it "has done everything and more than the FCC has required for Know-Your-Customer and customer due diligence procedures." FCC commissioners this week approved a proposed $4.5 million fine against the company; it was the first commission-level action under Chairman Brendan Carr (see 2502040065). In a statement, Telnyx said the FCC traditionally has expected providers to take reasonable steps to detect and block illegal traffic, and now the agency wants to impose fines "for limited unlawful calling activity that Telnyx not only did not originate but swiftly blocked within a matter of hours." It said the agency is trying to introduce "an unprecedented zero-tolerance requirement on providers through enforcement action, in the absence of any defined rules informing providers what is expected of them."
The FCC’s draft notice of inquiry on opening the upper C band for commercial use acknowledges numerous incumbents using the spectrum and seeks “detailed and evidence-based comments” from all affected parties. Also on Thursday, the FCC released a draft NPRM on rules for the AWS-3 auction and other items, teeing them up for the FCC’s Feb. 27 open meeting, including new rules for wireless emergency alerts (see 2502050057).
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
New FCC Chairman Brendan Carr laid out an aggressive agenda for his first meeting as chair, with two items on future spectrum auctions, including a look at the upper C band. The FCC will also tackle wireless emergency alerts and robocalls and ways of strengthening the call-blocking capabilities of carriers. In addition, commissioners will consider an NPRM on the volume of broadcast commercials.