The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation randomly selected the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear multiple pending petitions for review of an FCC order on incarcerated people's communications services, said an order Thursday. The petitions challenged various parts of the partially published order in the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 9th circuits (see 2408230012).

Scott Jordan, FCC chief technologist when the commission approved the 2015 net neutrality rules, defended the latest version in an amicus brief filed Tuesday at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in docket 24-7000. Petitioners “consistently conflate” three different kinds of internet access service -- dial-up, cable modem and broadband, Jordan said: “Petitioners use this conflation as the basis for their assertions that all forms of Internet access service were classified as information services prior to 2015. These assertions are incorrect as a matter of fact.” Now a computer science professor at the University of California, Irvine, Jordan was an advocate of the 2023 rules (see 2404160055). Capabilities listed in the definition of information service aren't offered by broadband internet access service, Jordan said. “They are offered by applications (information services) that utilize broadband Internet access service to transmit and receive data.” Jordan drew a comparison with the era when Netflix offered movies on DVD, sent through the mail. “Petitioners’ analogies would have the Court believe that not only was Netflix an information service, but that the US Postal Service was also an information service, and that the US Postal Service offered movies ‘in conjunction with’ Netflix.”

SoftBank and Intelsat will collaborate on a device that combines terrestrial and satellite connections, “enabling customers to stay connected everywhere they go,” the companies said. SoftBank and Intelsat will “lead research and development of seamless 5G connections” between terrestrial and satellite networks and launch a hybrid solution, said a Monday news release. “Despite the coming realization of autonomous mobility with automobiles, ships, drones and other vehicles, many areas are still without ground-based mobile network coverage and require separate devices and accounts to connect to non-terrestrial networks,” the companies said. Design, development, field-testing and commercialization will come in phases, “aligned” with development of 3rd Generation Partnership Project 5G nonterrestrial network standards. “The resulting hybrid solutions will allow for existing satellite terminals to be used in the near term and newer 5G-based terminals as they become available,” the companies said.

The FCC is inviting comment on or before Nov. 18 on whether any rules adopted in calendar year 2013 should be “continued without change, amended, or rescinded in order to minimize any significant impact the rule(s) may have on a substantial number of small entities,” said a notice for Tuesday’s Federal Register. The FCC is seeking comment to comply with Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, the notice said. Comments should be filed in docket 24-245.

AT&T negotiated tentative agreements with Communications Workers of America covering two regions, averting a strike in the West and ending a 30-day work stoppage in the Southeast, CWA said Sunday. The Southeast agreement covers 17,000 workers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. A five-year agreement includes across the board wage increases of 19.33%, with additional 3% increases for wire technicians and utility operations, the union said. The four-year agreement for the West region covers 8,500 workers in California and Nevada and includes a compound wage increase of 15.01% and “improvements to overtime and scheduling,” CWA said. The Southeast agreement comes days after both sides returned to the bargaining table, an AT&T spokesperson emailed Monday. “As we’ve said since day 1, our goal has been to reach fair agreements that recognize the hard work our employees do to serve our customers with competitive market-based pay and benefits that are among the best in the nation -- and that’s exactly what was accomplished,” the spokesperson said: The agreements also support AT&T’s competitive position in the broadband industry “where we can grow and win against our mostly non-union competitors.” CWA President Claude Cummings said members and retirees from across the U.S. helped during the strike. “I believe in the power of unity, and the unity our members and retirees have shown during these contract negotiations has been outstanding and gave our bargaining teams the backing they needed to deliver strong contracts,” Cummings said.

With FY 2024 regulatory fees due before Sept. 27 (see 2409100045), the FCC issued a series of regulatory fee fact sheets Monday. The agency said cable TV systems operating on Oct. 1, 2023, must pay a $1.27 per-subscriber regulatory fee for all the community units in which they operate. The number of basic cable subscribers served on Dec. 31, 2023, should be used to calculate the fee payment. IPTV subscribers and direct broadcast satellites should be included in the Cable Television Systems fee category and assessed a regulatory fee at the same rate as cable television fees. The number of IPTV and DBS subscribers served on Dec. 31, 2023, should be used as the basis for calculating the fee payment. In addition, the agency said Commercial Mobile Radio Service providers owe regulatory fees for each license held as of Oct, 1, 2023, even if the license later expired. CMRS fees will be assessed on the number of telephone numbers or subscriber counts, including non-geographic telephone numbers. The Office of International Affairs said regulatory fees for submarine cable systems will be paid, per cable landing license, for all submarine cable systems operating as of Dec. 31, 2023. Moreover, it noted that capacity for calculating fees should be based on “lit” capacity. It said any regulated party whose total FY 2024 annual regulatory fee liability, including all categories of regulatory fees for which payment is due, is $1,000 or less, is exempt from payment of FY 2024 regulatory fees. Also exempt are noncommercial educational (NCE) FM station licensees and full-service NCE television broadcast station licensees, provided that these stations operate solely on an NCE basis.

The Media and Democracy Project's petition against Fox’s WTXF-TV Philadelphia's license renewal is based on a Delaware Superior Court judge's ruling on a motion for summary judgment (see 2409120056).

House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., confirmed to us that the panel will mark up the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-8449) next week but was uncertain about whether a pair of controversial privacy bills -- the American Privacy Rights Act (HR-8818) and Kids Online Safety Act (HR-7891) -- will also be on the docket. House Commerce scuttled a planned June markup of HR-8449 (see 2406270059), which would mandate automakers include AM radio technology in future electric vehicles, because of some House GOP leaders’ opposition to HR-7891 and HR-8818. “We’re still working through” whether there will be consensus to move on HR-7891 and HR-8818 next week, Rodgers said in a brief interview. The Senate voted 91-3 in late July (see 2407300042) to pass its HR-7891 companion, S-1409, as part of a package that included the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (S-1418) Rodgers and other HR-7891 backers have been hoping to use the bipartisan Senate vote on KOSA to gain momentum for House action on the measure amid resistance from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other chamber GOP leaders to that measure and HR-8818 that derailed the June markup session (see 2406270046), lobbyists told us. House Commerce and HR-7891 backers “continue to work on a bipartisan path forward in the House on behalf of the millions of parents who deserve the ability to keep their kids safe,” a panel spokesperson said. S-1409 cosponsor Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., touted new endorsements of the bill Thursday from 10 conservative leaders, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) and several former Trump administration officials.

The FCC activated the disaster information reporting system and mandatory disaster response initiative for 30 parishes in Louisiana facing impacts from Hurricane Francine, a public notice said Wednesday. The alert includes Acadia Parish, Orleans Parish, St. Martin and others. Reports are due from communication providers starting Thursday. The FCC also issued public notices on priority communications services, FCC availability and emergency contact procedures for licensees that need special temporary authority. The Public Safety Bureau also issued a reminder for entities clearing debris and repairing utilities to avoid damaging communications infrastructure.

Former FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief David Simpson stresses the importance of finding a terrestrial alternative to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) in a new paper. “A day without accurate and available PNT services is a scenario the U.S. cannot afford,” Simpson argues. The paper comes amid broad opposition to NextNav’s pursuit of an NPRM examining using the 902-928 MHz band for PNT (see 2409060046). Terrestrial PNT “utilizes ground-based infrastructure, making it less susceptible to jamming and spoofing attacks targeting space-based systems” and combined with GPS would “create a more robust and resilient PNT ecosystem, minimizing the impact of single-point failures,” said Simpson, also a former Navy rear admiral, now a professor at Virginia Tech. A terrestrial system would “eliminate the confusion GPS receivers often encounter in urban canyons, difficult geographies and indoors” and “eliminate the asymmetric advantage an adversary might seek from an attack on our space assets.” The paper was prepared in part with the support of NextNav but reflects his personal views, Simpson said.