AT&T will be able to deploy the 3.45 GHz spectrum that it plans to buy from EchoStar almost immediately after regulators clear the purchase, said Jenifer Robertson, AT&T's general manager of mass markets, at a Citi financial conference Thursday. AT&T CFO Pascal Desroches said at a Bank of America conference that the company was immediately interested in the spectrum when it became clear that EchoStar might sell some of its large portfolio.

Verizon, Frontier and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) reached a settlement that they said protects workers and customers as Verizon seeks approval to acquire Frontier in a $20 billion all-cash deal. They asked the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to adopt the agreement in a joint motion posted Thursday (docket A-24-10-006).

Verizon wasn’t interested in the spectrum that AT&T is buying from EchoStar, Sowmyanarayan Sampath, CEO of Verizon Consumer Group, said at a Bank of America financial conference Wednesday. Verizon is very happy with its spectrum position, he said. AT&T announced last week an agreement to buy EchoStar spectrum for $23 billion (see 2508260005).

While 5G network slicing has gotten the most attention, it hasn’t proved to be successful in most cases, and fiber slicing may have more promise, said Nick Saporito, executive director at GFiber Labs, during a Fiber Broadband Association webinar Wednesday. Also at the event, FBA CEO Gary Bolton said early indications show that fiber will play an important role in the restructured BEAD program.

The cable ISP industry has assembled a coalition of senior executives to combat vandalism and other damage to communications networks. Chairing the Strategic Threat Response & Infrastructure Knowledge Exchange (STRIKE) is Comcast Chief Network Officer Elad Nafshi. Tom Monaghan, Charter Communications' executive vice president of field operations, is vice chairman. NCTA and CableLabs subsidiary SCTE, which are spearheading STRIKE, said members also include Altice USA, Cable One, Cox, Mediacom, Rogers and GCI.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday circulated two items targeting programs created under the Biden administration to fund Wi-Fi hot spots and Wi-Fi on school buses. Commissioner Anna Gomez immediately indicated she opposed cutting the programs, which have long been lightning rods for Republican objections.

EchoStar is asking the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to require the FCC to change rules in the AWS-3 auction order that commissioners approved in July (see 2507240055). In the order, the FCC rejected arguments by EchoStar, parent of Dish Network, that the agency should use the same designated entity (DE) rules in the reauction that it employed in the original (see 2507220033).

Some federal agencies could struggle to meet the large reform agenda laid out in the White House's space launch executive order issued earlier this month (see 2508140004), Pillsbury space lawyer Jodi Goldberg wrote last week. Some agencies mentioned in the order have experienced budget and staffing cuts in recent months, with more potentially coming, she said. The Department of Transportation and NASA -- key to the order's execution and the White House's space priorities -- are currently under the same leadership, she noted. "With fewer resources and a recalibration of institutional knowledge within the agencies, the Administration’s ability to deliver widescale meaningful reform in each area identified, and on the timeline set by the EO, may be an accomplishment on the same level as successfully launching a rocket to Mars."

New Environmental Health Trust (EHT) President Joe Sandri said he wants to popularize the idea that, similar to how cars are marketed based on their safety, wireless services and devices can be sold based on their safety in terms of RF exposure. Sandri was a longtime telecom executive who headed FiberTower, which was bought by AT&T, and IDT Spectrum, which Verizon ultimately absorbed. “I know a lot … from the perspective of an industry player,” he said. He was picked for the top job at EHT in August.

The Department of Commerce's Office of Inspector General (OIG) released summaries of two reports Thursday that were sharply critical of actions by the FirstNet Authority. One found that some FirstNet officials worked to block an OIG investigation, while the second found incidents of retaliation against a FirstNet employee who cooperated with OIG.