American Press Institute names Robyn Tomlin, formerly McClatchy, executive director, effective Dec. 1, replacing Senior Vice President Samantha Ragland, who was interim executive director after Michael Bolden departed to lead University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism … Wiley adds Erin Joe, ex-Google, as special counsel in its privacy, cyber and data governance practice.

The ongoing federal shutdown is causing anxiety and a lack of clarity for both FCC staff and industry attorneys, they told us in interviews. The FCC’s expectations for required filings during the shutdown are unclear, agency staffers are uncertain about when or if they will be paid, and less than two weeks remain before the Oct. 28 open meeting, which has the longest agenda the FCC has seen in years. Industry officials told us the shutdown could lead to some items being taken off the October agenda, but all three commissioners told us they're still taking meetings and calls on the planned items.

Deborah Collier, vice president of policy and government affairs for Citizens Against Government Waste, urged House lawmakers involved in reaching a conference compromise on the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-3838) to strongly oppose language in the Senate's alternative bill (S-2296) that gives Pentagon leaders authority to essentially veto commercial use of the 3.1-3.45 and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands (see 2510090048). HR-3838 doesn’t include similar language. The Senate voted 77-20 earlier this month to pass S-2296 with the Section 1564 military spectrum veto language intact, despite opposition from Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas (see 2510070037).

CTIA adds Elmar Weber, Google, to its board … Rural broadband advocacy group WTA elects Matt Johnson, Shawnee Communications, as president; Kent Schimke, Dickey Rural Networks, as vice president; Jason Williams, Blackfoot Communications, as secretary-treasurer; and Pat McElroy, Northeast Nebraska Telephone, as past president; elected to the executive committee are: Larry Jones, Chickasaw Telephone; Kristi Lee, Valley TeleCom; Daniel Meszler, Tularosa Communications; Jimmy Todd, Nex-Tech; Rick Vitzthum, Tenino Telephone; and Eric Votaw, Varcomm; Schimke, McElroy, Lee and Vitzthum are also elected to the board, along with: David Adams, Green Hills Communications; Lennie Blakeslee, CoBank (associate); Janet Britton, REV; Volodymyr Chornodolsky, Nokia (associate); Sara Cole, TDS … The nonprofit T. Howard Foundation names Glenn Goldsmith, Mediacom, to its board.

The advent of AI means that everything is changing for the telecom industry, Qualcomm Chief Information Officer Atilla Tinic said Wednesday at the Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas. AI was again the main topic of keynote discussions on the second day of the conference (see 2510140041), which is co-sponsored by CTIA and GSMA.

Experts warned Wednesday that there are no easy answers to shoring up the USF and making predictable funding available for years to come. During a Broadband Breakfast webinar, panelists noted that some federal funding is disappearing, with FCC commissioners voting 2-1 last month to delete support for school bus Wi-Fi and internet hot spots that aren't on school or library premises (see 2509300051).

The U.S. “faces a fork in the road” on wireless, and the spectrum that will be made available under the reconciliation package “comes none too soon,” new CTIA President Ajit Pai said Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas. Pai warned that a lot of work remains to get more licensed spectrum in play. “Identifying bands and setting an ambitious target is not the same as making spectrum available.”

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr this week circulated revised incarcerated people's communications services (IPCS) rules that could drive up the price of calls by as much as 80% or more, said industry officials engaged in the proceeding. In interviews Thursday, they also questioned how they can even raise concerns ahead of the Oct. 28 open meeting, given the federal government’s partial shutdown.

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), represented by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, sued the Trump administration Wednesday for canceling the Digital Equity Act competitive grant program, which had been approved by Congress. NDIA said it asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to order the administration to restore the program and “allow NDIA to resume shovel-ready projects aimed at providing digital navigator services to 30,000 people in 11 states.”

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.