NCTA is challenging some changes sought by utility company interests to the FCC's pole attachment item on its July agenda. The proceeding continues to attract significant lobbying from broadband and utility advocates (see 2507160024), particularly over contractor approvals.

Industry groups disagreed on the steps the FCC should take to close a “gap” in the commission’s Stir/Shaken authentication rules, making it harder for scammers to hide their identities. CTIA warned of unintended consequences, while other comments asked the commission to move quickly and resolutely.

The House on Thursday narrowly passed the Senate-cleared version of the HR-1 budget reconciliation package, previously known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (see 2507010070). Passage came after a marathon all-night session, during which most Republicans who had previously resisted backing the measure ultimately voted for it amid pressure and cajoling from GOP leadership and President Donald Trump. The lower chamber approved HR-1 218-214, with only two Republicans joining all 212 Democrats in opposition.

California broadband advocates and industry clashed over how the state should treat fixed wireless and other non-fiber technologies in its BEAD plan, as the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) races to finalize a revised proposal by Sept. 4. In reply comments posted Wednesday (docket 23-02-016), commenters disagreed on whether fixed wireless can serve as a viable long-term solution for bridging the digital divide.

The FCC on Thursday released draft items scheduled for votes at its July 24 open meeting, the second with a Republican majority in this Trump administration. Chairman Brendan Carr sketched out details of the meeting in a wide-ranging speech Wednesday (see 2507020036). The main focus will be cutting regulations and streamlining copper retirements and the pole attachment process. Among other items, the FCC would decline to adopt a tribal priority window prior to the AWS-3 reauction. Another draft order requires text providers to support a text-to-988 georouting requirement.

Damage to Charter Communications' network June 15 in Van Nuys, California, was domestic terrorism, the company said Tuesday. That determination was based on the nature of the fiber cuts, the extent of the damage and the makeup of the customers affected, it said, noting that the 13 damaged cables resulted in lost connectivity to emergency services, financial institutions, court buildings, health care facilities, a U.S. military base and cell towers. More than 50,000 residential customers and 500 business customers were affected for up to 30 hours, according to Charter. "This is a pervasive and persistent threat to American families and businesses across the country that cannot be tolerated, and such life-threatening events should be declared acts of domestic terrorism and prosecuted accordingly," CEO Chris Winfrey said. The company said it's offering a $25,000 reward for information. NCTA, CTIA, USTelecom and NTCA have urged Congress to consider criminalizing communications network vandalism and theft federally (see 2411190058).

As the FCC commissioners voted up a trio of regulatory items Thursday, Chairman Brendan Carr was predicting "a very, very busy" July and August, with a greater focus on accelerating infrastructure buildouts and freeing up spectrum. Approved at the agency's June meeting were orders streamlining cable TV rate regulation and axing the professional engineer certification requirement for the biannual broadband data collection filings, as well as an NPRM proposing to end the requirement that telecommunications relay services providers support the now-obsolete ASCII transmission format. Thursday's meeting was the first for Republican Commissioner Olivia Trusty, who was sworn in Monday (see 2506230057). With Carr now having a two-person Republican majority, agency watchers anticipate that it will ramp up more substantive work aligned with his agenda (see 2506200052).

The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling Friday that likely means less certainty for FCC actions and those of other federal agencies under the Hobbs Act. The decision comes a year after SCOTUS overruled the Chevron doctrine, which had required courts to give deference to agency decisions, in the Loper Bright case (see 2406280043). The latest from the court was Friday's 6-3 decision in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, a much-watched case on the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (see 2506200011).

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez were among many communications policymakers and stakeholders who congratulated Republican Commissioner-designate Olivia Trusty on Tuesday night and Wednesday. The Senate voted 53-45 Wednesday to confirm Trusty to a five-year term that begins July 1 (see 2506180076). It cleared her Tuesday to finish the term of former Democratic Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, which ends June 30 (see 2506170072).

The leaders of the House and Senate Communications subcommittees said Thursday they're reviving the bicameral USF revamp working group, which had paused its work on legislative recommendations last year amid uncertainty following the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in the Consumers' Research lawsuit against the program’s funding mechanism (see 2407300053). The Supreme Court heard oral arguments for its review of the case in March (see 2503260061). Working group members had considered melding the FCC’s lapsed affordable connectivity program with USF’s Lifeline program and keeping the latter’s narrower eligibility rules (see 2404170066).