Americans want the broadband speeds that come with fiber everywhere, but satisfying that demand isn’t possible, said telecom consultant Jimmy Schaeffler, chairman of the Carmel Group, during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. Other speakers said the U.S. should keep focusing on deploying fiber to as many locations as possible.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr didn’t testify during Wednesday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Biden administration social media censorship actions, but many Democrats continued to deride him throughout the meeting for his mid-September comments against ABC and parent Disney, which were widely perceived as influencing the network’s since-reversed decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air (see 2509180055). Meanwhile, First Amendment attorneys and academics said during an American Enterprise Institute event Wednesday that Carr’s actions have been more blatant than past FCC regulations against broadcasters and other licensees.

In Verizon’s first big move under new CEO Dan Schulman, the carrier announced Wednesday that it plans to acquire Starry, a company that offers next-generation fixed-wireless broadband. Industry experts said regulators are unlikely to ask too many questions about the deal.

Telecom networks are seeing fundamental changes as they're upgraded to 5G and eventually 6G, telecom executives said during an RCR Wireless 6G forum Tuesday. Experts stressed that more than ever, networks must be agile and able to change quickly to address evolving customer demands.

Given the growing problem of deliberate attacks on and damage to communications networks, Congress needs to close the loophole that excludes privately owned networks from federal protection, FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty said Tuesday at a California event convened by the telecom industry to discuss the issue. She also said industry needs to do more to harden the targets of such attacks.

The FCC wants to adopt what it's calling a "licensing assembly line" approach to speeding up its review of satellite and earth station applications, according to a 201-page draft NPRM on space licensing reform. The item, which is on the FCC's Oct. 28 meeting agenda, would also extend the license terms for most satellites and earth stations to 20 years, move largely to a nationwide blanket license approach for earth stations, and require that satellite operators share space situational awareness data. The draft agenda items were released Tuesday.

A coalition of 24 members of Congress, led by Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., and Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., urged the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear en banc an August decision that upheld the FCC’s data breach notification rules, despite a Congressional Review Act action in 2017 that overturned similar requirements in other privacy rules (see 2508140052). Right-leaning interest groups also asked for rehearing, as sought by ISPs (see 2509290066). Briefs were filed Monday in case 24-3133.

Providers of incarcerated people's communications services (IPCS) insisted Tuesday at the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the court shouldn’t even be hearing the case challenging a 2024 FCC order -- the 5th Circuit should. Oral argument in the case came the same day that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr circulated a draft order and Further NPRM that would make sweeping changes to IPCS rules approved last year.

A tug-of-war is continuing in the Senate over language from the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (S-2296) that Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said last month would give the DOD and the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman excessive authority to veto commercial use of the 3.1-3.45 and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands (see 2509100064). The Senate Armed Services Committee approved the spectrum language in Section 1564, but Cruz filed an amendment in September to remove the proposal. He's also negotiating to remove it as part of a manager's amendment (see 2509110073). The House-passed FY26 NDAA (HR-3838) doesn't include similar language.

The number of geostationary orbit (GSO) satellites ordered in 2024 was at a 30-year low, and there's no sign of demand picking up, Analysys Mason satellite analyst Dallas Kasaboski said during the consultancy's webinar Monday. Analyst Lluc Palerm said time is of the essence for satellite or mobile network operators that are interested in direct-to-device (D2D) service but haven't yet entered into cooperative partnerships or agreements. Any such operator "needs to act fast [as] the train is moving."