The 6th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court granted the unopposed March 20 motion of Hamilton Relay, a telecommunications relay service (TRS) provider, to intervene in support of the Ohio Telecom Association’s petition for review challenging the FCC’s Dec. 21 order modifying and expanding the commission’s data breach notification rules on telecom carriers, VoIP providers and TRS providers (see 2403210001), said a clerk’s order Wednesday (docket 24-3133). Hamilton provides intrastate and interstate text telephone, speech-to-speech and captioned telephone services in numerous states through individual state TRS contracts, plus nationwide relay service through its internet protocol captioned telephone service, which is regulated by the FCC. Hamilton’s motion said it was entitled to intervene because it was a party of interest in the proceeding leading to the adoption of the order and because the order’s data breach notification rules changes adversely affect its interests.

Instead of considering opening the 1.6/2.4 GHz band to mobile satellite systems, as SpaceX has argued (see 2403270002), the FCC should investigate whether SpaceX should even keep its FCC licenses, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America said Wednesday. If the FCC doesn't revoke the company's licenses, it should restrict CEO Elon Musk's control and management of SpaceX, said UCCA, an umbrella group of Ukrainian-American organizations. "Musk cannot use FCC licenses to militarily aid Russia, a state that is subject to U.S. sanctions," UCCA said. UCCA pointed to SpaceX allegedly refusing a Ukrainian government request to allow the Starlink satellite constellation to be used in Sevastopol to aid in an attack on Russia's fleet and Musk allegedly directing the disability or impediment of Starlink terminal functions that Ukrainian armed forces use. It alleged Musk made Starlink available to the Russian military, as it purchases terminals through other countries, and that its use in Russia-occupied Crimea is allegedly no longer geofenced. Beyond what it called unreliable Starlink service, UCCA said evidence of Musk's "illegal drug use and his erratic behavior is overwhelming." It added, "Simply stated, there is much more than smoke, there is a fireball of evidence that Musk lacks the basic qualifications to remain a Commission licensee." Accordingly, the commission should hold a hearing to determine if Musk can remain an FCC licensee, it said. SpaceX didn't comment. UCCA in 2022 petitioned for a hearing on the licenses of the owners of a Washington, D.C., area station that airs Russia's Radio Sputnik network (see 2203230054).

The FCC Public Safety Bureau issued an order granting a two-week extension request from Public Knowledge and several other groups for comment deadlines for responses to the agency’s outage reporting Further NPRM (see 2404170053). Comments on the item are now due May 13, replies June 12. The groups requested the extension because of the proximity of the original April 29 deadline to the agency’s net neutrality vote Thursday and the Passover holiday. “We conclude that the totality of the circumstances warrants a limited 14-day extension of the comment and reply deadlines to facilitate the development of a comprehensive record in this proceeding,” said the order.

The FCC’s Disability Advisory Committee will next meet virtually May 16 (see [2404190025).

The latest reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act “expands” Section 702 to include electronic communications providers like cloud services, the Cato Institute said Monday. President Joe Biden signed the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act into law Saturday. The House passed the bill April 14 (see 2404120044), and the Senate approved it hours before Biden signed. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., was unable to attach a warrant requirement to the legislation through an amendment. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., did not strike language from the House Intelligence Committee. Durbin said in a statement he was “disappointed” his “narrow amendment” didn’t pass. “If the government wants to spy on my private communications or the private communications of any American, they should be required to get approval from a judge, just as our Founding Fathers intended in writing the Constitution,” said Durbin. Civil liberties advocates have said the language expands Section 702. Patrick Eddington, Cato Institute senior fellow in homeland security and civil liberties, said Monday the bill broadens definitions for "'electronic communications service provider' in a way that will encompass cloud-based storage companies, among others." He noted this is the first time Congress reauthorized the program for two years, instead of the standard five. Section 702 is “one of the United States’ most vital intelligence collection tools,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement Saturday. The bill allows agencies to “retain essential authority to understand and protect against a wide range of dangerous threats to Americans while enhancing safeguards for privacy and civil liberties through the most robust set of reforms ever included in legislation to reauthorize Section 702.”

The 12.2 GHz band is the only spectrum DirecTV uses to deliver programming to subscribers, including several heavily watched HD channels, and to deliver mobile services to aircraft boats and RVs, the company told FCC staffers. In a docket 22-352 filing Monday recapping a meeting with Wireless and Space Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff, DirecTV discussed a supplemental Savid study detailing the possibility of harmful interference from terrestrial operations in the adjacent 12.7 GHz band.

The FCC’s Disability Advisory Committee will next meet May 16, starting at 10 a.m. at FCC headquarters, said a notice in Friday’s Federal Register. DAC last met in January (see 2401300051).

Verizon joins wireless industry voices urging the FCC not to allow expanded uplinks in the 2110-2120 MHz band for space launch operations. That swath was critical to 4G deployment and "will continue to support the deployment of next-generation wireless technologies for years to come," Verizon said Friday in docket 13-115. In addition, CTIA and AT&T have raised red flags about expanded space operations in the 2110-2120 MHz portion of the AWS-1 band (see 2404020028). More users in the AWS-1 band "would add significant complexity and uncertainty to the interference environment," Verizon said. It said if the FCC allows expanded access for space launches, it should be restricted to the NASA Deep Space Network research facility in California -- the sole venue where wireless licensees of the band have been subject to interference up to now.

Public Knowledge, the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates and several other groups want the FCC to grant a two-week extension of comment deadlines for responses to the agency’s outage reporting Further NPRM (see 2401250064), which proposes requiring broadcasters, satellite companies and broadband Internet access service providers to make reports to the disaster information reporting system. The groups, which also include New America’s Open Technology Institute, The Utility Reform Network and Communications Workers of America, want the extension to push the deadlines after the FCC’s upcoming net neutrality vote and to account for the Passover holiday. Currently, comments are due April 29, just four days after the net neutrality vote. “The subject matter is intimately tied to the Commission’s scheduled vote on the reclassification of broadband as a Title II service,” said the joint motion for extension. “A brief delay of two weeks will permit parties to review the Reclassification Order, and reflect the legal authorities and discussion relating to network resiliency included in the final Order.” The current comment day also falls on the seventh day of Passover, “a religious day when work is prohibited,” the joint filing said. If granted, the extension would move the deadline for comments to May 13 and replies to June 11.

FCC commissioners approved fines against the then four national wireless carriers for failing to safeguard data on their customers' real-time locations, industry officials said Wednesday. Commissioners were reportedly still finishing their statements. The notices of apparent liability were approved in 2020 under former Chairman Ajit Pai (see 2002280065). The FCC proposed the largest fine, $91 million, against T-Mobile, followed by AT&T, $57 million; Verizon, $48 million; and Sprint, $12 million. T-Mobile subsequently acquired Sprint. “It’s time to hold [the carriers] accountable and make them pay for this behavior -- and by that I mean the more than $200 million in fines proposed by the last administration,” Rosenworcel said last year (see 2306140075). The FCC didn’t comment.