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.
The FCC shouldn’t repeal company-specific do not call rules and requirements that prerecorded calls include an automated opt-out mechanism, said the National Consumer Law Center, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and other consumer groups in an ex parte filing Thursday. Proposals to repeal the rules are on the agency’s Oct. 28 meeting agenda. “If adopted, the Commission’s proposals will unleash unstoppable telemarketing calls as well as unwanted robocalls such as unasked-for reminders, survey robocalls, and customer satisfaction robocalls,” the filing said. “As is evident from multiple comments from individuals and small businesses to the FCC in recent years, more protections are needed against unwanted and illegal calls, not fewer.”
Pole owners with poles already slated to be replaced can't charge a new attacher all the costs to do that replacement, the West Virginia Public Service Commission ordered Thursday. The order was in response to petitions by the West Virginia Internet and TV Association and Citynet, which asked for clarification of the commission's August order clarifying its pole attachment rules. The state agency said its rules require that an attacher pay for an "appropriate portion" of the poles they need and not the entire cost of replacements. That's in line with FCC interpretations of its own rules, the PSC said.
FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty told the Mobile World Congress this week that the FCC’s “Delete” proceeding remains a key focus for the agency. She said that as a former Senate staffer, she understands that making more spectrum available for carriers is a national security issue. Commissioner Anna Gomez noted that the FCC has a lot of work to do to move forward on spectrum auctions. Trusty and Gomez didn't attend the conference because of the federal government shutdown, but both offered recorded remarks.
The FCC was right to eliminate programs that provided school bus Wi-Fi and internet hot spots to schools and libraries because they went beyond the agency's authority, wrote Daniel Lyons, a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, in a blog post Thursday. Supporters of the programs say that on a practical level, halting the programs puts schools and libraries in a financial bind (see 2510150047).
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).
Changes to rules for how wireline is deployed, not just wireless, are important to Southern Linc, said Holly Henderson, its external affairs and compliance director, during a panel discussion this week at the Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas. Other speakers at the conference, which is sponsored by CTIA and GSMA, highlighted the importance of the upper C band to the wireless industry.
AT&T's purchase of EchoStar's 3.45 GHz and 600 MHz spectrum licenses won't reduce wireless competition, but instead it will make the two wireless providers "stronger and better able to compete in an increasingly competitive wireless marketplace," they told the FCC in a public interest statement posted Thursday (docket 25-303). The companies said the deal gives spectrum-constrained AT&T the spectrum it needs and takes care of the "overwhelming headwinds" that EchoStar faced at the FCC in trying to become a facilities-based nationwide carrier. AT&T and EchoStar announced the $23 billion spectrum deal in August (see 2508260005).
The FCC is starting the process of revoking the authority of Hong Kong Telecom (International) to provide international and domestic telecom services to and within the U.S., the agency announced Wednesday. It “sent an Order to Show Cause to HKT and its wholly-owned subsidiaries directing them to explain why the FCC should not commence revocation proceedings against them,” said a news release. The agency noted that the company is affiliated with China Unicom (Americas), which is already on the FCC’s “covered list” of companies raising national security concerns. “The FCC will continue to safeguard America’s networks against penetration from foreign adversaries, like China,” said Chairman Brendan Carr.
A pair of FCC proceedings could result in significant changes to how state and local governments regulate access to public rights-of-way for broadband and telecommunications networks, Marashlian & Donahue communications lawyer Jonathan Marashlian wrote Wednesday. He said municipalities know they have leverage over time-sensitive construction projects and use permitting as a negotiation tool -- often resulting in delays and higher deployment costs. The FCC proceedings are "a direct response to these kinds of real-world friction points." A wireline infrastructure notice of inquiry asks about possible limits on how states and local governments restrict rights-of-way access, while a wireless siting NPRM seeks comment on streamlining deployment of towers and other wireless infrastructure. Commissioners approved both at the agency's September meeting (see 2509300063).