The National Emergency Number Association warned the FCC that allowing correctional facilities to jam cell signals must not interfere with people's ability to call 911, according to a filing posted Monday in docket 13-111. The FCC unanimously approved a further NPRM on cell jamming in September (see 2509300063), and initial comments are due Dec. 26. NENA declined to comment “on the technical merit” of various systems. “However, whichever systems are allowed … and installed in correctional facilities must include careful engineering and assurances that legitimate 9-1-1 calls and public safety traffic won’t be blocked.”
The FCC Office of International Affairs has signed off on Google subsidiary Starfish Infrastructure's planned Bulikula submarine cable system, which will connect Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Hawaii to Fiji and French Polynesia. Starfish applied for approval 13 months ago (see 2411180002). In a public notice last week, the FCC said the subsea system license was granted with routine conditions.
Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE) last week asked the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the FCC’s controversial changes to rules for incarcerated people's communications services, which commissioners approved 2-1 in October (see 2510280045). The 1st Circuit already heard a challenge to the initial 2024 order before the FCC majority revised the rules (see 2510070044).
House Communications Subcommittee member Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., on Friday night hailed the FCC's publication in the Federal Register of the Public Safety Bureau's January multilingual wireless emergency alerts rules (see 2501080029). Attorneys general from 18 states and the city of New York threatened in November to pursue legal action to force the rules’ publication (see 2511070042). Barragan noted that she led a letter in May with more than two dozen other House Democrats pressing the FCC to publish the rules and begin implementing them.
Consumers should be on the lookout for phone and text message scams during the holidays, said the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau in an alert Monday. Avoid calls or texts from unknown parties, avoid mysterious links and keep an eye out for requests for payment by gift card, the alert said. The bureau also warned about holiday charity scams using phone calls or texts to solicit donations and about package delivery scams claiming that a consumer owes a tariff on an item. “Watch out for text notices saying your purchase is ‘stuck in customs’ or your order will not be delivered until a tariff is paid.” Consumers should check directly with the retailer if they suspect something is wrong, the agency added.
California Public Utilities Commission Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth Fox is recommending that the CPUC approve Verizon's purchase of Frontier Communications, subject to an array of conditions, including state diversity, equity and inclusion requirements. The FCC signed off on the deal in May after Verizon committed to dropping DEI practices (see 505160024). FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has said the agency won't approve mergers at regulated entities that have "invidious" DEI practices (see 2502240073).
WISPA filed a letter at the FCC on Monday asking the agency not to move the citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) operations to another band or otherwise make major changes to the rules (see 2512050029). In other comments posted Monday in docket 17-258, wireless ISPs said they may be forced to shut down if the rules are changed.
The National Emergency Number Association and other stakeholders appeared unconcerned ahead of Tuesday's House Communications Subcommittee hearing (see 2512100055) that a refiled version of the Next Generation 911 Act (HR-6505) doesn’t include a defined amount of proposed funding for NG911 tech upgrades. NENA CEO John Provenzano praised HR-6505 in an interview, as do several scheduled hearing witnesses in their written testimony. The bill would set up a NG911 grants program within NTIA to disburse money for fiscal years 2026-30. The hearing will begin at 10:15 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.
The Center for American Rights kicked off an online campaign Monday supporting the elimination of the broadcast TV ownership cap and targeting the Senate Commerce Committee's FCC oversight hearing Wednesday. In an interview, CAR President Daniel Suhr told us he bases the group’s FCC filings on President Donald Trump’s social media posts and public comments. He added that CAR’s focus on media resonates with conservatives and has raised its profile, increasing donations to the organization.
The U.S. government, CTIA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce agreed in filings at the U.S. Supreme Court that justices should resolve a circuit split over whether the FCC properly handed down fines against AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile for violating the agency's data privacy rules. AT&T, which won its case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, had also urged SCOTUS to resolve the split (see 2512050055). Briefs were filed last week in docket 25-567.