Gov. Kelly Armstrong (R) appoints North Dakota Public Service Commission Business Operations Manager Jill Kringstad as commissioner, succeeding Julie Fedorchak (R), elected to Congress ... Elizabeth Cuttner, ex-legal adviser to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, named FCC detailee to Senate Commerce Committee minority staff ... Futurum Group names Dan O’Brien, ex-IBM, as president-COO ... Telesat names Charles Cynamon, ex-LinQuest, president-Telesat Government Solutions.
Chilean authorities have granted the authorizations needed for SpaceX and mobile service partner Entel PCS Telecomunicaciones to commence supplemental coverage from space service in the South American country, SpaceX told the FCC in a filing posted Monday in docket 23-135. It was the latest in a series of SpaceX notifications to the commission regarding SCS service being ready to launch in foreign markets (see 2412200045).
A federal court's dismissal last week of the FCC's net neutrality rules (see 2501020028) raises the question of why traditional phone service still faces strict Title II regulation when modern phone networks are increasingly integrated with the internet, International Center for Law & Economics Senior Scholar Eric Fruits wrote Monday. A minority of U.S. households have a landline phone, and platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom have largely replaced traditional phone calls, he added. Meanwhile, traditional carriers' networks handle integrated voice, video and data services. As such, modern communications is stuck in an antiquated regulatory framework, prompting the need for Congress to move telecom services into the Title I rules regime governing information services, Fruits argued. This "would level the regulatory playing field, enabling traditional carriers to compete more effectively with internet-based platforms," and encourage infrastructure investment by reducing compliance costs and regulatory uncertainty, he added. A universal service goal could be maintained under Title I, and the FCC could still implement targeted consumer protections through its Title I powers.
A Virginia bill would establish restrictions on arrangements between ISPs and owners of multifamily dwelling units (MDU). State Rep. Debra Gardner (D) prefiled the bill, HB-1709, last week, which would bar MDU owners from "accepting payment from a provider of broadband service for granting such provider mere access to the landlord's tenants or giving such tenants mere access to such service." The bill would also bar landlords from requiring tenants to pay for service "unless the landlord itself is the provider of the service." Gardner's measure comes after the FCC adopted rules in 2022 barring revenue sharing and exclusivity agreements between ISPs and MDU owners.
T-Mobile didn’t expect Washington state’s data breach lawsuit Monday, the carrier said in a statement. In a complaint at the state’s King County Superior Court, Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) alleged that T-Mobile knew for years about cybersecurity vulnerabilities that led to a 2021 data breach (see 2501060046). A T-Mobile spokesperson acknowledged, “We have had multiple conversations about this incident from 2021 with the Washington AG's office over the last several years and even reached out in late November to continue discussions." As such, "The office’s decision to file a lawsuit … came as a surprise,” the spokesperson added. “While we disagree with their approach and the filing’s claims, we are open to further dialogue and welcome the opportunity to resolve this issue, as we have already done with the FCC.” T-Mobile “fundamentally transformed” its cybersecurity approach during the last four years, the spokesperson said.
State legislatures returning to session in the coming weeks will likely consider "a torrent" of net neutrality bills in the wake of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals striking down the FCC's net neutrality rules (see 2501020028), Access Partnership's Jacob Hafey wrote Monday. The court decision doesn't impact state-level net neutrality laws, such as in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, he added.
The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition asked the FCC for a stay of a waiver the Wi-Fi Alliance received allowing automated frequency coordination systems in the 6 GHz band to take building entry loss into account for “composite” standard-power and low-power devices that are restricted to operating indoors. The request was filed on Monday and posted Tuesday in docket 23-107. The coalition also asked the FCC to review the order (see 2501060060).
Summit Ridge told the FCC it remains on track to shutter operations of the 3.45 GHz relocation reimbursement clearinghouse by March 1, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 19-348. A March 1 closure assumes “no unexpected delays” and is “based on reasonable timeline assumptions informed” by the Wireless Bureau, the filing said. The FCC sought comment by Dec. 18 on the proposal to close the clearinghouse (see 2412030032), but none was posted in the docket. Summit Ridge said the clearinghouse’s cash balance was $162,924.20 at the end of 2024, which will cover final expenses. “The Clearinghouse does not expect to make additional payments to incumbents,” the filing said.
NTCA urged the FCC to approve Siskiyou Telephone's request for a two-year waiver of agency rules imposing a $200 per-line monthly limit on high-cost universal service support. The California-based provider noted in a November filing it sought the waiver to address the loss in support as customers were disconnected during wildfires in 2020 and 2022. The waiver “will allow adequate time for the lines lost to the fires to be replaced,” it said. “Siskiyou operates in some of the most difficult-to-serve rural (indeed frontier) areas of the nation,” NTCA said in a filing this week in docket 10-90. “Much of Siskiyou’s service area is in mountainous (elevations up to 8,200 feet) and granite-laden terrain, the latter requiring hard rock directional boring and rock saws to install network infrastructure,” NTCA said: In addition, “the company’s service area is vulnerable to the wildfires that have devastated California over the past several years.” WTA also supported the request. The waiver “will allow Siskiyou to continue to provide its valuable services to its remaining customers while the residents who lost their homes rebuild, thus well serving the public interest,” the group said: “Without such relief, Siskiyou may be unable to offer service to residents that lost their homes, thus compounding their suffering.”
The Senate Republican Conference ratified Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas Tuesday as Commerce Committee chairman, as expected (see 2411040049). Cruz said in a statement his top priority remains “pursuing policies that will create jobs and spur economic growth,” including by “expanding commercial access to electromagnetic spectrum.” Cruz is among the congressional GOP leaders eyeing using a coming budget reconciliation package to address spectrum issues, including restoring the FCC’s lapsed auction authority (see 2501070069). “I look forward to continuing to work with” Senate Commerce ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., “and our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to find common ground and deliver results that will make a difference in the daily lives of the American people,” he said. The panel will have 15 Republicans during this Congress, including freshman Sens. John Curtis of Utah, Bernie Moreno of Ohio and Tim Sheehy of Montana (see 2412230014). There will be 13 Democrats, including three new party members (see [Ref:2501030050}).