FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez condemned the agency’s threats against broadcast networks and warned that a loss of its independence could hurt internationally. Gomez delivered remarks during a Center for Democracy & Technology event Thursday in Washington. It was the first stop on what Gomez called a “1st Amendment Tour” in a release earlier this week. “I'm embarking on a tour to talk about this administration's efforts of censor and control, because we need people to understand what's happening, and we need them to speak out,” she said Thursday. “We are in an alarming moment, and I am not someone who is generally alarmist.”
Vermont received applications to serve 96% of currently unserved areas through its BEAD program, the state's Community Broadband Board announced Wednesday. Of these locations, 95% received applications to be served with fiber. The agency said five ISPs are participating in the program, and it will reach out to providers in areas that didn't receive applications. "We are excited by the quality and number of applications we received," said Executive Director Christine Hallquist.
SI Wireless, a small wireless broadband provider, sued the FCC in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit after the FCC blocked payments under its Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. SI accused the FCC of retaliation. The program pays for the removal of unsecure Chinese gear, mostly from wireless networks. SI serves rural southern Illinois and parts of Tennessee and Kentucky.
House Judiciary Committee Democrats on Wednesday decried reports that Bill Owens, the longtime executive producer of CBS’ 60 Minutes, is resigning (see 2504220070) as the network faces Trump administration pressure over the program’s interview last fall of former Vice President Kamala Harris. CBS faces a $10 billion lawsuit from President Donald Trump, as well as an FCC news distortion proceeding (see 2504140044 and 2502050063). CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, also needs FCC approval to finalize its $8 billion purchase by Skydance (see 2503210049).
Two top Senate Commerce Committee Democrats are voicing concerns that speculation that President Donald Trump may move to fire FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez (see 2503200057) will scare off potential Democratic candidates to replace retiring Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. Democratic FCC stakeholders began worrying about Gomez’s fate after Trump’s unprecedented March firings of Democratic FTC Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter (see 2503190057). Legal experts said during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday that the U.S. Supreme Court appears likely to overturn Humphrey’s Executor v. U.S., a 1935 decision stopping the president from firing FTC commissioners without cause, which has implications for the FCC and other independent agencies.
Telesat Government Solutions names retired Air Force Col. Ronald Thompson, ex-LinQuest, vice president-growth ... MetTel adds Erika Dinnie, formerly U.S. General Services Administration, as vice president-federal strategy and planning, a new post ... VoIP provider Virtual Technologies Group appoints Greg Yarrington, formerly ECI, as COO and executive vice president-technology ... Cloud services provider Hivelocity names Matt Schatz, ex-Flowspace, chief revenue officer ... Bill Owens resigns as executive producer of CBS’ 60 Minutes.
Bill Owens, the longtime executive producer of CBS’ 60 Minutes, is resigning over what he said is a loss of journalistic independence, according to a New York Times report Tuesday. CBS faces a $10 billion lawsuit from President Donald Trump and an FCC news distortion proceeding (see 2504140044 and 2502050063), both connected to a 60 Minutes interview last fall of former Vice President Kamala Harris. CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, also needs FCC approval to finalize its $8 billion purchase by Skydance (see 2503210049). In a memo to staff, Owens said it had become clear that he would no longer be allowed to run the show independently as he had been, the NYT story said. Owens had previously said he wouldn’t apologize to Trump as part of any settlement of his suit. Facing a similar suit from Trump, ABC issued a public statement of regret and made a $15 million contribution to the foundation responsible for constructing Trump’s presidential library (see 2412160043). CBS didn’t comment.
The U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., ordered the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) on Tuesday to restore the shuttered Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and Middle Eastern Broadcast Network.
Danielle Thumann, senior counsel to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, indicated on Tuesday that the commission is looking closely at changing its rules for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a step sought by CTIA (see 2503270059), as well as cutting regulations approved during the last administration. NEPA was the first issue Thumann raised while speaking at a Federalist Society 5G webinar.
New Street’s Blair Levin told investors that the broadband implications of President Donald Trump's recent executive order on permitting reform remain to be seen (see 2504180036). The order “says that the purpose is to improve the permitting processes for ‘infrastructure projects of all kinds, such as roads, bridges, mines, factories, power plants, and others,’” Levin said last week: “While broadband is not mentioned, it could be included in the category of ‘others.’”