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.
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.
Given the deluge of financial scam calls, texts and emails that Americans constantly receive, Congress needs to clarify the enforcement authority that the FCC and other agencies have over abuse of communications channels, said the National Task Force on Fraud and Scam Prevention. The task force, convened by the Aspen Institute, issued a report Wednesday that proposes a national public-private strategy to prevent scam calls.
FCC commissioners on Tuesday approved 3-0 a further NPRM seeking comment on whether correctional facilities should be allowed to jam cell signals, with an eye on curbing contraband phones. Commissioners also approved notices seeking comment on revamped wireless and wireline infrastructure rules and a direct final rule deleting other wireline rules.
The FCC voted unanimously Tuesday to seek comment on relaxing local broadcast-ownership limits, even as protesters at the crowded meeting called FCC Chairman Brendan Carr “the censorship czar” and he continued to deny that his recent comments about Jimmy Kimmel were a threat.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr emphasized Tuesday that he was “ready to go” with what the commission said would be a suspension of “most operations” after midnight Wednesday if Congress couldn't reach a deal on a continuing resolution to extend federal appropriations past Tuesday night, as most observers expected. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said more than 77% of NTIA’s 600 staff will remain at work following an appropriations lapse, in part because of spectrum funding included in Republicans’ reconciliation package, previously known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (see 2507030056).
Groups opposing an FCC order giving the FirstNet Authority control of the 4.9 GHz band through a nationwide license (see 2410220027) Monday slammed Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA) and Public Safety Broadband Technology Association (PSBTA) challenges of part of the order. The Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI) and other groups filed a brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which is scheduled to hear the case Nov. 24. The FCC and DOJ, meanwhile, defended the order.
House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Senate Homeland Security Investigations Subcommittee ranking member Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and other Hill Democratic leaders castigated FCC Chairman Brendan Carr during what amounted to a one-party bicameral hearing Monday for his mid-September comments against ABC and parent Disney widely perceived as influencing the network’s since-reversed decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air (see 2509180066). Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcast stopped preempting Kimmel Friday night, as expected (see 2509260054). The Senate Commerce Committee is eyeing potential dates soon for an FCC oversight hearing that ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington and other Democrats have been requesting to confront Carr (see 2509220059), lobbyists told us.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s use of agency threats against Disney, ABC and local broadcasters on Wednesday led to Jimmy Kimmel Live! being pulled from the air within hours, and Carr is widely expected to keep repeating the tactic, academics and attorneys said in interviews Thursday.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Tuesday that he’s generally satisfied with how Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is playing out and raised doubts about whether the agency will plow further into the issue. The debate over Section 230 “is still alive,” but given changes by social media companies, Carr is in a “trust-but-verify posture,” he said at a Politico summit focused on AI.