The FCC on Thursday took its first major action on the unlicensed use of the 6 GHz band during the second Trump administration, approving, as expected (see 2601270047), an order permitting a new class of geofenced variable power (GVP) devices. Commissioners adopted the item unanimously with a few tweaks. The FCC is also seeking comment on other changes to the rules in a further NPRM.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a news conference Thursday that the Media Bureau won’t be targeting radio programming with its updated interpretation of the equal-opportunity broadcast rules, while Commissioner Anna Gomez blasted the policy as the agency’s latest move to pressure media companies. “I have one message to broadcasters: Do not be cowed into stopping your independent reporting of what is happening to this country,” Gomez said.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
MVPDs, public interest and civil rights groups said in filings posted Wednesday that the FCC shouldn’t grant waivers to green-light Nexstar’s proposed $6.2 billion purchase of Tegna while it has open proceedings on the quadrennial review and national cap. They also argued that allowing the deal would be a novel decision that can’t be approved at the bureau level.
With a quartet of bills pending before the Missouri House about unwanted calls, House Utilities Committee Chairman Robert Bromley (R) urged their sponsors Wednesday to work on a substitute, which he said he would then push to get through the committee. "Everyone is somewhat in favor" of the state doing more to tackle unwanted call issues, he said at a committee hearing. But while representatives of the three major wireless carriers expressed support for the general goals of the bills, they also raised concerns about a patchwork of state versions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act that sometimes conflict with the federal version of the law.
AT&T CEO John Stankey told analysts Wednesday that the carrier is interested in buying additional spectrum, but the $23 billion purchase of spectrum from EchoStar gives the provider options. Stankey also emphasized that the company is speeding up its fiber deployments. AT&T became the first of the “big three” U.S. wireless carriers to announce Q4 results, which included continuing subscriber growth. The Wall Street reaction was positive, and AT&T closed for the day up 4.57% at $24.05.
House Commerce Committee leaders drew attention away from Wednesday's Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing on FirstNet Authority renewal by releasing its draft First Responder Network Authority Reauthorization Act, which mirrors proposals that two former network board chairs criticized last week (see 2601210069). The House Communications Subcommittee plans to examine the measure during a hearing Feb. 4 at 10:15 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.
The FCC’s proposed Lifeline NPRM, posted Wednesday, seeks to restrict funding to only American citizens and a few classes of non-citizens. The NPRM is expected to be politically explosive, with Commissioner Anna Gomez already accusing Chairman Brendan Carr of proposing “the same cruel and punitive eligibility standards recently imposed for Medicaid coverage” (see 2601270051).
An FCC draft order that would clarify and codify the agency's policies related to foreign ownership of broadcasters and common carriers is expected to be unanimously approved at Thursday’s open meeting, industry officials told us. The draft item is seen as noncontroversial and has drawn no ex parte filings in docket 25-149.
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., told us he isn’t bothered yet by some former FirstNet Authority Board chairs’ early misgivings about a draft bill he’s writing to renew the public safety broadband network, likely with some governance alterations (see 2601200065). Lobbyists told us they will be monitoring a Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing Wednesday on FirstNet renewal for any signs that Michael Adkinson, the network's acting board vice chairman, has similar misgivings about Hudson's draft. Adkinson, who's also “performing the duties” of acting FirstNet board chair, is among the witnesses set to testify at the hearing (see 2601260058). The panel will begin at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell.