The FCC’s outage reporting rules and its history of assessing large penalties for violations are leading to public safety answering points (PSAPs) being heavily burdened by notifications, said attorneys, trade groups and public safety associations. New rules that go into effect April 15 are likely to exacerbate the issue, they said during an FCBA virtual panel discussion Monday.

House Communications and Technology Subcommittee names Parul Desai, formerly NTIA, chief minority counsel … Connecticut’s Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee approves nomination of David Arconti Jr., ex-Avangrid, as a commissioner of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, subject to General Assembly approval.

CPB wants a federal court to force the Federal Emergency Management Agency to remove a hold on paying reimbursement requests from public broadcasting stations connected to upgrades to emergency alerting, according to CPB filings in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (docket 1:25-cv-00740-TJK). CPB administers grant funds from FEMA marked by Congress to help station upgrades connected with the Next Generation Warning System, but FEMA ceased paying the reimbursements to 42 stations after a White House executive order was issued to freeze grants, the filing said. “Not just future reimbursements for expenses not-yet-incurred, but also for reimbursements of expenses already incurred by these stations in reliance on the grant’s terms,” CPB said. FEMA didn’t inform CPB that the funds were on hold and is “refusing to provide any communications as to why the funds have been placed on hold, placing new restrictions on the grant, and refusing to provide any mechanism through which CPB can make any submissions in compliance with the grant,” CPB said. CPB can’t reimburse the stations but also faces potential liability over the unpaid funds, the filing said. The court should “enter a very focused and very feasible Temporary Restraining Order simply requiring FEMA to re-open the grant submission portal” and “return to timely processing and promptly paying requests to reimburse,” CPB said. FEMA didn't comment.

Intel appoints Lip-Bu Tan, ex-Walden International, as CEO, succeeding David Zinsner, now executive vice president and CFO, and Michelle Johnston Holthaus, CEO-Intel Products; Tan also becomes executive board chair, replacing Frank Yeary, Darwin Capital, now independent chair … Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) reappoints Benjamin Barkley as chief executive and public counsel, Office of Public Utility Counsel, pending Senate confirmation … Government satellite network Rivada Select Services names to board Joe Maguire, University of Texas; John O'Connor, J.H. Whitney Investment Management; and Allen Parker, ex-Wells Fargo … TechNet taps Robert Boykin, formerly California Association of Health Plans, as executive director-California and the Southwest region.

NAB touted a broadcaster alternative to GPS in meetings at the FCC on the draft notice of inquiry scheduled for a vote March 27 (see 2503060061). Deployment of a broadcast positioning system (BPS) as an alternative to GPS is mentioned in the NOI. NAB representatives met with aides to Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Anna Gomez. “NAB described its progress since it began developing BPS in 2020, following President [Donald] Trump’s Executive Order on Strengthening National Resilience Through Responsible Use of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Services,” said a filing Thursday in docket 25-110. Since, “NAB has conducted a number of tests and has launched BPS signals on-air in four television markets. NAB described these deployments and our work with various government agencies to test and refine the system.”

The FCC has created an internal, multi-bureau national security taskforce “to promote America’s national security and counter foreign adversaries, particularly the threats posed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” said FCC Chairman Brendan Carr in a news release Thursday. Called the Council for National Security, the group will include members from eight bureaus and FCC offices. Carr’s national security counsel, Adam Chan, will lead the group, the release said. It didn't specify which bureaus and offices will be involved, and the agency didn’t immediately respond to questions about the group's makeup or whether it will hold public meetings.

The FCC Office of Managing Director announced Thursday a proposed Q2 USF contribution factor of 36.6%, as calculated by the Universal Service Administrative Co. That’s up from 36.3% the previous quarter and the highest quarterly contribution factor in the program's history. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear FCC v. Consumers’ Research March 26, a case about the contribution factor's legality.

CTIA names Ajit Pai, ex-Searchlight Capital Partners and former FCC chairman, president and CEO, effective April 1... Benton Institute for Broadband & Society promotes Revati Prasad to executive director, effective May 1, succeeding Adrianne Furniss, moving to senior fellow, Illinois program manager and adviser to Prasad.

The Wireless Infrastructure Association on Wednesday praised the CTIA's choice of former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai as the group’s president and CEO, effective April 1 (see 2503120036). He was picked following an executive search by Korn Ferry International. Pai is “an effective leader with the right mix of government and industry experience to help propel the wireless industry forward,” said Patrick Halley, WIA president and CEO. “WIA looks forward to working with him and the CTIA team to ensure every consumer and enterprise in America benefits from the power of wireless connectivity.” Pai “brings a wealth of knowledge and perspective from his years of public and private sector experience,” said Rhonda Johnson, AT&T executive vice president-regulatory relations.

The FCC’s notice of apparent liability against Telnyx is an abuse of power and should be rescinded, said Free State Foundation’s Seth Cooper in a blog post Wednesday. The Feb. 4 Telnyx NAL (see 2503050026) amounts to “regulation by enforcement,” where an agency imposes new requirements on regulatees in enforcement proceedings instead of through a rulemaking, Cooper wrote. Regulation by enforcement “deprives regulated entities of the ability to know and follow the law, so it is contrary to the requirement of fair notice and the prohibition of unfair surprise that are recognized in Supreme Court's Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause jurisprudence.”