An FCC draft NPRM proposing a host of changes to the low-power TV rules is expected to be approved unanimously at the commissioners' open meeting Thursday with few alterations from the draft version, agency and industry officials told us. LPTV broadcasters told us they view many of the proposals as ministerial “housekeeping,” and the LPTV Broadcasters Association and the Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance want the item to seek comment on easing restrictions on the relocation of LPTV stations. LPTVBA President Frank “SuperFrank” Copsidas said proposals to impose filing requirements on LPTV stations similar to the rules for full-power stations are unfair because LPTV is a secondary service. “If the FCC wants to treat us like full-power stations, give us their protections,” Copsidas said.

The Senate Commerce Committee is eyeing additional changes to the Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) in hopes of jump-starting its prospects as a viable vehicle for resurrecting the FCC’s expired affordable connectivity program, lobbyists said in interviews. Committee leaders are hoping further revisions will allow them to raise S-4207 during a potential mid-June meeting, lobbyists told us. Senate Commerce pulled S-4207 from consideration twice last month, including fully postponing a May 16 executive meeting (see 2405160066). The Biden administration and FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel made a final call Friday for Congress to keep ACP running as the program’s time expired.

Don't expect traditional methods of protecting radio astronomy from spectral interference to work when it comes to supplemental coverage from space (SCS), according to radio astronomy interests. In comments last week (docket 23-65), radio astronomy advocates repeatedly warned that SCS service poses a significant interference risk. Multiple parties said SCS service is too new to justify emergency calling requirements. The FCC's SCS framework order adopted in March (see 2403140050) included a Further NPRM on 911 and radio astronomy issues.

The costs of complying with the FCC’s updated data breach notification rule “detract from the core work” of five trade associations' small-business members “to connect existing and new customers in hard-to-serve areas and close the digital divide,” said those trade groups in an amicus brief Wednesday in the 6th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court. Joining the brief were ACA Connects, the Competitive Carriers Association, NTCA, the Wireless ISP Association and WTA.

Any spectrum allocation for in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing (ISAM) operations won't happen without a fight. Numerous space operators and other spectrum interests pushed back in docket 22-271 reply comments this week against any ISAM-specific spectrum allocation. Space operators also disagreed on how far the FCC's authority reaches when it comes to ISAM regulations that don't deal with radiofrequency issues. The FCC's authority was also questioned in initial comments in the ISAM licensing NPRM (see 2404290039).

T-Mobile’s proposed acquisition of UScellular’s wireless operations, including about 30% of its spectrum, has already seen opposition (see 2405280047), with more expected. In addition, the deal will likely face heavy scrutiny from DOJ and the FCC, industry experts agree. Handicapping whether the transaction will receive approval is difficult, especially headed into a presidential election in November, industry officials say. Some of the 21 states where UScellular has a presence could play at least limited roles reviewing the deal, state and other officials said. T-Mobile’s buy of Mint and other assets from Ka’ena, a smaller deal that didn’t involve spectrum, took regulators more than a year to approve.

California is considering some “awful” regulations for AI, tech entrepreneur Andrew Ng said Thursday. His comments came a day after California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) warned state lawmakers against overregulating AI.

Broadband access, equity and deployment program funding is flowing more slowly than expected and likely won’t start in mid-2025 as originally expected, Diana Eisner, USTelecom vice president-policy and advocacy, said during a Georgetown University Center for Business and Public Policy webcast Wednesday. Most of the money will start to flow in mid-2026 or later, she predicted. It could even be the second half of 2026, she said.

Coastal TV is being forced to broadcast with a low-power transmitter that lacks sufficient power to cover its broadcast area due to a contract dispute with Mississippi TV, alleged a May 1 fraud complaint (docket 1:24-cv-00100), removed Tuesday from the Circuit Court of Lee County, Mississippi, to U.S. District Court for Northern Mississippi in Aberdeen.

Satellite-delivered consumer broadband is increasingly concentrating in low earth orbit (LEO), with SpaceX's growth expected to start facing competition from Amazon's Kuiper within months, satellite industry experts tell us. Geostationary orbit (GSO) providers continue losing residential broadband subscribers, though EchoStar says it sees a slower decline. Viasat has begun redirecting residential broadband spectrum capacity to other uses.