FCC claims that Telnyx didn't do enough to stop apparent scam calls made using its voice service platform are factually wrong, the company said Wednesday. Telnyx said it "has done everything and more than the FCC has required for Know-Your-Customer and customer due diligence procedures." FCC commissioners this week approved a proposed $4.5 million fine against the company; it was the first commission-level action under Chairman Brendan Carr (see 2502040065). In a statement, Telnyx said the FCC traditionally has expected providers to take reasonable steps to detect and block illegal traffic, and now the agency wants to impose fines "for limited unlawful calling activity that Telnyx not only did not originate but swiftly blocked within a matter of hours." It said the agency is trying to introduce "an unprecedented zero-tolerance requirement on providers through enforcement action, in the absence of any defined rules informing providers what is expected of them."
Federated Wireless representatives met with aides to FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington to call for rules that would facilitate deploying AI “and other advanced tools” to make the citizens broadband radio service band more efficient for users. The representatives discussed Federated’s “support for codification of the processes that are being used to manage CBRS spectrum access” and “greater harmonization of the CBRS rules with adjacent bands,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 17-258.
The Association of American Railroads told the FCC that its members remain on schedule to move off 900 MHz frequencies to new frequencies by the September deadline. AAR disputed claims made by The Federal Newswire and Rail Tech News that the railroads won’t meet the deadline. “Although each railroad is implementing its own transition plan, all will accomplish the task on schedule,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 17-200: “Accordingly, there is no basis for parties -- especially those acting anonymously -- to question the railroads’ ability to do so.” Railroads have been using the 900 MHz frequencies since 1982 as part of a “single nationwide ribbon license,” AAR noted.
A broad group of companies and associations urged new FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to oppose fundamental changes to rules for the citizens broadband radio service band, including higher power levels and relaxed emission limits. “Such changes would fundamentally modify CBRS licenses and undermine the Commission’s bipartisan vision for CBRS as a lower-power, small-cell band that supports broad access and numerous applications,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 17-258. The changes “would also imperil the technical progress made over the last decade through collaboration between the Commission, federal agencies, and industry,” it said. Among signers of the letter were NCTA and major cable companies, Amazon.com Services, the American Library Association, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, Deere & Co., Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Lockheed Martin, the Open Technology Institute at New America, Public Knowledge, the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, Shure, Spectrum for the Future and the Wireless ISP Association. CBRS is broadly used for “rural broadband, competitive mobile services, manufacturing, industrial and enterprise private networks, transportation and logistics connectivity (e.g. airports and shipping terminals), school and library access, and more,” the filing said.
Members of the Alternative Connect America Cost Model (ACAM) Broadband Coalition raised concerns about the latest FCC thinking on ACAM support in a call with FCC Wireline Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics staff. They “discussed the support adjustment methodology contemplated by Commission staff and the Coalition’s position that the methodology under consideration could lead to inaccurate and insufficient support levels,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 10-90. The coalition “maintains that the most accurate and equitable method to recalculate support is to rerun the cost model to reflect the network required to serve the final location counts,” the filing said.
Lawyers who made the recent arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson agreed that the case will likely turn on the views of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Morrison Foerster’s Joseph Palmore, who represented McKesson, and Gupta Wessler’s Matthew Wessler, representing McLaughlin, spoke during an FCBA continuing legal education event Wednesday.
The FCC’s draft notice of inquiry on opening the upper C band for commercial use acknowledges numerous incumbents using the spectrum and seeks “detailed and evidence-based comments” from all affected parties. Also on Thursday, the FCC released a draft NPRM on rules for the AWS-3 auction and other items, teeing them up for the FCC’s Feb. 27 open meeting, including new rules for wireless emergency alerts (see 2502050057).
The FCC Wireless Bureau on Wednesday granted five additional licenses in the 900 MHz broadband segment to PDV Spectrum, four in Texas and one in Missouri. The FCC approved an order in 2020 reallocating a 6 MHz swath in the band for broadband, while maintaining 4 MHz for narrowband operations (see 2005130057).
NextNav CEO Mariam Sorond urged the FCC to move forward on the company’s proposal to reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band, enabling what it called a “high-quality, terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing services (see 2404160043). “Since former President George W. Bush first acknowledged the need to build GPS redundancy in 2004, every presidential administration has recognized the problem,” Sorond said Tuesday in Forbes. GPS signals are “easily disrupted by intentional spoofing and jamming, and even by unintentional interference,” she wrote: “These signals weaken as they approach Earth -- a vulnerability we’ve seen exploited on the battlefield -- and threaten civilian industries in Europe and the Middle East.” GPS signals also struggle “indoors and in urban canyons, posing challenges for first responders trying to locate people in emergencies.” GPS is also an economic issue, she said. “A one-day loss of GPS could cost the U.S. economy an estimated $1.6 billion, according to a Brattle Group report.”
The National Sheriffs’ Association and ViaPath, a provider of incarcerated people’s communications services (IPCS), separately filed in support of challenges to the FCC’s July order implementing the Martha Wright-Reed Act of 2022 (see 2501280053) in briefs filed this week at the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The order reduces call rates for people in prisons while establishing interim rate caps for video calls (see 2407180039).