Tech interests will debate the ripple-effect consumer harms that may result from the Trump administration’s newest proposals to impose 10 percent Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. But the list of goods targeted for the 10 percent duties, released Tuesday in an Office of the U.S. Trade Representative notice, doesn't include meaningful end-user consumer tech products like TVs. U.S. purveyors of luggage, textiles and fashion accessories weren't so lucky.

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is likely to raise the bar for FCC regulations if confirmed, attorneys said after President Donald Trump nominated the appellate judge Monday evening to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy (see 1807090060). Not only would Kavanaugh be expected to seek to rein in Chevron deference to agency expertise, but he also is seen as a strong advocate of industry First Amendment free-speech rights, based on his lengthy record at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (see 1807040001). He believes broadband is a Communications Act Title I information service, not a Title II telecom service subject to common-carrier regulation. Some on Capitol Hill and among communications groups oppose the nominee.

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is likely to raise the bar for FCC regulations if confirmed, attorneys said after President Donald Trump nominated the appellate judge Monday evening to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy (see 1807090060). Not only would Kavanaugh be expected to seek to rein in Chevron deference to agency expertise, but he also is seen as a strong advocate of industry First Amendment free-speech rights, based on his lengthy record at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (see 1807040001). He believes broadband is a Communications Act Title I information service, not a Title II telecom service subject to common-carrier regulation. Some on Capitol Hill and among communications groups oppose the nominee.

Satellite and terrestrial interests are lining up on opposite sides over whether increasing interference Globalstar says it's seeing in the 5.1 GHz band is attributable to sharing that band with outdoor Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure operations. That the FCC will act on Globalstar's call for a notice of inquiry on mobile satellite service sharing with U-NII (see 1805220006) has doubters. Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, told us the FCC isn't likely to reopen the 2014 sharing rules governing the band without more direct evidence of harmful interference.

Satellite and terrestrial interests are lining up on opposite sides over whether increasing interference Globalstar says it's seeing in the 5.1 GHz band is attributable to sharing that band with outdoor Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure operations. That the FCC will act on Globalstar's call for a notice of inquiry on mobile satellite service sharing with U-NII (see 1805220006) has doubters. Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, told us the FCC isn't likely to reopen the 2014 sharing rules governing the band without more direct evidence of harmful interference.

Satellite and terrestrial interests are lining up on opposite sides over whether increasing interference Globalstar says it's seeing in the 5.1 GHz band is attributable to sharing that band with outdoor Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure operations. That the FCC will act on Globalstar's call for a notice of inquiry on mobile satellite service sharing with U-NII (see 1805220006) has doubters. Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, told us the FCC isn't likely to reopen the 2014 sharing rules governing the band without more direct evidence of harmful interference.

The Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee is slated to meet at the FCC July 26-7 (see 1807060028), with the No. 1 topic recommendations from the Harmonization Working Group, participants said. They said that's going to continue to be challenging. That working group is trying to reconcile a model code for municipalities and one for states approved by BDAC in April. The Ad Hoc Committee for Rates and Fees also will report at the meeting.

The Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee is slated to meet at the FCC July 26-7 (see 1807060028), with the No. 1 topic recommendations from the Harmonization Working Group, participants said. They said that's going to continue to be challenging. That working group is trying to reconcile a model code for municipalities and one for states approved by BDAC in April. The Ad Hoc Committee for Rates and Fees also will report at the meeting.

Convo Communications joined a group of "enterprise users" in opposing an ITTA petition that asked the FCC to ensure carrier telecom relay service fund costs can be passed on to consumers through specific line-item fees, while AT&T and Verizon continued to back it. "As a deaf owned and operated company which provides [TRS], Convo is of the view that ITTA’s request to identify TRS as a line item description in customer bills subverts the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) mandate of telecommunications as a universally available service and consequentially would segregate and stigmatize TRS as a 'special' need which adds cost to ratepayers, but is done to provide a 'social' service for the disabled," said the video relay service provider's filing posted Thursday in docket 03-123. Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and other groups took no position on the petition proposal but said they "hope that the Commission, carriers, and other stakeholders will join accessibility organizations in making clear to the public that TRS is not just a regulatory fee, but a service that is beneficial to the general public because it allows all individuals to communicate with each other."

T-Mobile's buying Sprint is expected to face an uphill fight winning approval from regulators, despite what's seen as a positive Senate hearing last week with top executives from both companies, and AT&T’s win in federal court on AT&T/Time Warner. T-Mobile and Sprint have hired a small army of lawyers and former government officials to promote the deal.