In response to a request for comment, the Wireless Infrastructure Association urged NTIA to focus on improving permitting processes and access to land as well as power if it wants to spur growth of data centers. NTIA said in the September RFC it’s seeking better understanding of data center issues related to the power grid, supply chain, workforce development and cybersecurity (see 2409040016). “Particularly relevant to the wireless industry is the deployment of neutral host and edge data centers” which “provide critical capacity and enable interconnection -- key drivers of the digital economy,” WIA said. Innovation at the edge “will help 5G networks realize their potential in high-bandwidth, low-latency communications,” the group said: “This will not only improve mobile broadband but unlock new technologies like augmented and virtual reality and bring new AI tools into peoples’ everyday lives.” Incompas members “consistently face delays in permitting and gaining access to the public rights-of-way when deploying broadband,” the group said. Incompas supports “increasing access to public rights-of-way, accelerating approval of permits, and asking state and local governments, utilities, and railroads to charge fees that are based only on their actual, objectively reasonable costs.” Incompas said the electric grid poses a challenge: “The electrical grid must be modernized to support this economic growth and ensure: 1) timely access to reliable energy for large customers, 2) utilities and grid operators move fast to build new carbon free generation, new transmission and modernize existing transmissions through [grid enhancing] technologies, and 3) utilities have the programs available for large customers to support their operations with new renewables and carbon-free electricity.” The Information Technology Industry Council called data centers the “infrastructure backbone that underpins today’s digital economy.” ITI said it’s critical that policymakers “have a comprehensive understanding of data center market dynamics, including the different data center types and sizes.” The group also stressed the importance of technology-neutral rules and speeding permitting. Data centers are “essential to our modern and distributed economy and are the foundation upon which our modern digital ecosystem is built, including cloud computing, IoT, AI, and many other virtual products and services,” ITI said: “They provide the necessary computing power and storage capacity to enable these innovations, making them an essential part of AI and emerging technology value chains.”

Industry groups repeated in reply comments their earlier arguments that addressing tribal issues shouldn’t slow the awarding of funds through the $9 billion 5G Fund that FCC commissioners approved in August (see 2410180036). Replies were posted on Monday in docket 20-32. Commissioner Brendan Carr dissented on the 5G Fund item, which included a Further NPRM on tribal issues (see 2408290022). Tribes and their associations have stressed the importance of collaboration with tribal governments (see 2410170045). The record shows “that any 5G Fund Tribal consent requirements need to account for the time and uncertainties involved in obtaining Tribal consent,” CTIA said. The commission “should also consider whether Tribal entities’ consent may be presumed after a certain period of good-faith efforts by the 5G Fund applicant,” the group said: “In no event, … should a winning bidder be placed in default or otherwise subject to penalties if the winning bidder demonstrates good-faith efforts to obtain consent in accordance with the rules.” The Rural Wireless Association said the rules should mirror the tribal land bidding credit framework used in other FCC programs. “Obtaining Tribal consent during the long-form application process can be unduly burdensome,” RWA said: “It is also unnecessary for the Tribal consent to be obtained prior to the filing of the long-form application as such consent can still be obtained and provided to the FCC before funding is received."

The Treasury Department is moving forward with a rule that will add 59 military bases across 30 states to the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and increase the scope of transactions CFIUS can examine for land purchases near eight other military bases (see 2407090003). The rule, released this month in prepublication form, includes multiple bases that lawmakers for months have urged Treasury to add to its purview, including two near planned Chinese lithium battery and electric vehicle plants.

Starfish Infrastructure is seeking FCC approval for a private, non-common carrier submarine cable connecting the U.S. to French Polynesia, New Zealand and Australia. The Honomoana cable system -- named for the Polynesian words for "link" -- hono -- and "ocean" -- moana -- would land in San Diego County, it said in an application posted Thursday. The new direct connection between Australia and the continental U.S. would come as capacity demand on that route is growing substantially year over year. Starfish said it hopes to install and test the Honomoana system in U.S. waters in Q1 2026 and start commercial operation of the U.S. landing point by 2026's end.

The FCC's proposed rewrite of its submarine cable rules could put a variety of cybersecurity requirements on operators and bar them from using equipment or services on the agency's Covered List. The NPRM on the agency's Nov. 14 open meeting agenda also proposes significantly shortening cable landing licenses, from 25 years to three. Also on the agenda is a codification of many temporary provisions for authorization of geotargeted radio using program-originating FM boosters and a draft order on the caller ID authentication process aimed at further tackling unlawfully spoofed robocalls. The agenda items (see 2410300033) were made public Thursday.

The FCC is eyeing undertaking its first major comprehensive review of its submarine cable rules in 23 years, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel noted Wednesday as she announced the agency's Nov. 21 meeting agenda. Also on the agenda are additional robocall steps and a permanent process for authorizing geotargeted FM radio broadcasts, she said. While the technology, economics and security challenges involving submarine cables have changed notably since 2001, "FCC oversight has not," she said. That year saw the agency adopt procedures for streamlining the processing of landing licenses. The Stir/Shaken caller ID authentication framework is one of the FCC's most effective tools for mitigating deceptive robocalls, Rosenworcel said. With third parties used for Stir/Shaken implementation, Rosenworcel noted there have been "concerns about improperly authenticated calls and diminished accountability." The FCC will "vote to establish clear rules of the road for the use of third parties in the caller ID authentication process," she said. Industry groups urged the commission to allow third-party caller ID authentication last year (see 2307060045). In April, the FCC unanimously approved an order creating a temporary authorization process for broadcasters to use FM boosters to offer geotargeted ads. Along with that order, the agency sought comment on a more permanent process, which seems the focus of the November order. Geobroadcast Solutions, the primary company offering geotargeted FM tech to broadcasters, has pushed for the permanent authorization process to loosen restrictions on broadcasters offering geotargeting. GBS has called for the FCC to raise the number of commonly owned booster stations allowed to originate content and to increase the amount of time per hour the geotargeted content can be broadcast. The current limit is three minutes per hour. NAB and NPR have called for the FCC to closely monitor geotargeted radio users and impose additional interference protections. Two entities, Press Communications and REC Networks, have petitioned the agency to reconsider the original radio geotargeting order. The November agenda also has an unspecified enforcement item scheduled.

Indian Peak Properties has long flouted Rancho Palos Verdes land use laws and ignored neighbors, the California city said. In addition, the company is using its appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit "as a post hoc end-run around five different state or federal court rulings and two prior [FCC] rejections," it added. In an amicus brief filed Monday with the appellate court (docket 24-1108), the city said the company, operating from a home, is trying to get protection of FCC rules by expanding the agency's over-the-air reception devices (OTARD) rule in a way the commission didn't envision, the statute didn't authorize and that is inconsistent with legislative intent. Indian Peak is appealing an FCC order denying its petitions for declaratory ruling seeking a federal preemption under the OTARDs rule of a decision by Rancho Palos Verdes to revoke, under local ordinances, the company’s conditional use permit for the deployment of rooftop antennas on a local property (see 2405060035). Rancho Palos Verdes urged dismissal of Indian Peak's appeal. The city said Indian Peak's arguments that its first FCC petition, sent in April 2020, should have stayed all ongoing proceedings in the California courts "is a manifest abuse of the process and a misreading of governing law."

In oral argument, a Chinese aluminum foil exporter and the government discussed Commerce’s procedure for selecting world benchmark prices for an input and for land purchases (Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination Materials Co. v. U.S., CIT # 21-00133).

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, a member of his transition team and Elon Musk, X platform owner and SpaceX CEO, are repeating calls for broadcasters to lose their spectrum because their news broadcasts are too partisan.

Automakers, chipmakers and broad business groups asked the Bureau of Industry and Security to give their industries more time to adjust to new requirements to move supply chains out of China and report on what companies are in their connected vehicle supply chains.