The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau on Wednesday approved ZP Better Together’s request to continue providing video relay service (VRS) supported by the interstate telecommunications relay services fund following the acquisition of indirect ownership and control of ZP by Teleperformance Group. The bureau noted it sought comment in December, and none was filed. “Applicants state that ‘ZP currently meets or exceeds all mandatory minimum standards that are applicable to VRS and have not been waived by the Commission, and will continue to do so’ after the Teleperformance acquisition is consummated,” the bureau said.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) isn't likely to make much headway with the 119th Congress absent a major revamp, tech policy panelists said Wednesday at a Congressional Internet Caucus event, which also featured some panelists disagreeing on the FCC's role in cybersecurity enforcement.
CTA CEO Gary Shapiro warned Wednesday of a potential “brain drain” in the federal government should the Donald Trump administration continue its assault on the bureaucracy. The Joe Biden administration lacked enough officials who understood how business works, and Trump's don’t understand government, Shapiro said during a Broadband Breakfast webinar. Unions that represent federal employees, including at the FCC, slammed the latest Trump actions.
EchoStar, the Rural Wireless Association (RWA), Communications Workers of America and other parties countered arguments that T-Mobile and UScellular made as the two battled opponents of their proposed deal (see 2501100036). The companies announced in May an agreement where T-Mobile will buy “substantially all” of the smaller carrier’s wireless operations, including some of its spectrum, in a deal valued at about $4.4 billion, including $2 billion in assumed debt (see 2405280047).
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and other leaders acknowledged in recent interviews that long-standing DOD objections to repurposing the 3.1-3.45 GHz band and other military-controlled frequencies remain an impediment to GOP hopes of using an upcoming budget reconciliation package to move on spectrum legislation (see 2501070069). Lawmakers and lobbyists said DOD concerns could prevent Congress from including anything beyond a simple restoration of the FCC’s lapsed auction authority in a reconciliation package, an outcome that would fall short of wireless industry wishes for a refilled spectrum pipeline.
The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition said the FCC has no choice but to overturn the waiver allowing automated frequency coordination systems in the 6 GHz band to take building entry loss (BEL) into account for “composite” standard- and low-power devices that are restricted to operating indoors. The coalition countered arguments in support of the waiver from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology (see 2501220030). “The crux of the FWCC’s Application for Review turns on OET’s abject failure to articulate special circumstances justifying the BEL Waiver Order,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 23-107. “In light of the failure of the Oppositions, the waiver applicants, or the BEL Waiver Order to articulate a special circumstance, the Commission must reverse” the order, FWCC said.
Preempt California's regulatory framework for VoIP services, the Cloud Communications Alliance and Cloud Voice Alliance asked the FCC in a petition for declaratory ruling filed Monday (see 2501240002). The California Public Utilities Commission’s pending proceeding on the issue "conflicts with federal policies designed to promote competition, innovation, and affordable communications services," the groups said. They also asked that the FCC reaffirm its "end-to-end jurisdictional analysis as the definitive standard for determining the regulatory treatment of VoIP services."
In a statement Tuesday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr condemned proposed FCC rules on siting wireless and broadcast towers, small cells and other facilities in flood plains as the previous administration's attempt “to double down on broken environmental laws that benefit nobody but special interests.” The statement doesn't specifically identify its subject as the flood plain rules but an FCC spokesperson confirmed it refers to them. Those rules were stalled on circulation since 2022 (see 2204110047) and were among those recently pulled in a purge of agency items on circulation (see 2501270055). “It is time for America to build. It is time to unleash the growth and opportunity that has been stifled by misguided and outdated infrastructure policies,” Carr said. “Ending the FCC’s consideration of this Biden-era proposal is just an initial step.” He added, “I look forward to working with my colleagues and stakeholders to ensure that the federal government does not stand in the way of America’s broadband builders and the important work they have ahead.”
A White House executive order on diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) programs could lead to telecom companies abandoning such efforts, causing a rollback of progress on diversity, said industry executives and public interest attorneys during a FCBA panel discussion Tuesday. There is “fear and chaos” in “lots of corridors and hallways of corporate America” over the DEI executive order and anticipation of future White House action in that vein, said Clint Odom, T-Mobile vice president-strategic alliances and external affairs and a former FCC aide. “The world seems to be lining up between the companies that are doing DEI and the companies that are retreating from it.”