SpaceX's proposed reconsideration of the aggregate out-of-band power flux density (PFD) limits that the FCC adopted in March's supplemental coverage from space (SCS) order (see 2405300044) is seeing some pushback from wireless carriers and EchoStar. SpaceX has pushed for band-specific out-of-band PFD limits, and replies to its petition were posted Monday in docket 23-65. EchoStar said the proceeding's record supports the FCC's aggregate out-of-band emissions limit protecting neighboring licensees. The aggregate interference limit is "reasonable and realistic" as a route to preventing harmful interference, it said. AT&T said the commission should stick with its "balanced, simple, and certain approach" to protecting terrestrial wireless services, "particularly given that SCS technology is still being developed and tested." It said if an SCS applicant can't comply with the PFD limits, it can seek a waiver of the rule and show its proposed deployment won't cause harmful interference. Keeping the uniform out-of-band PFD limit is important, given the nascent development of SCS services, Verizon said in its opposition. T-Mobile, partnering with SpaceX on SCS service, backed SpaceX's recon petition. It said the FCC didn't seek comment on the limit ultimately adopted, and that limit significantly constrains the ability of satellite operators to provide SCS in some frequency bands. "Basic engineering principles require band-specific out-of-band PFD levels," T-Mobile said.

Expect extensive street closures and traffic restrictions around the National Courts Building in Washington this week through Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said Friday. It said court will proceed as scheduled, but access to the courthouse will be available only on H Street NW. Various areas of Washington are expecting street closures and restrictions due to the NATO Summit. Counsel should plan for extra time getting to and from the courthouse, the court said.

The FCC Wireline Bureau gave carriers part of the relief they sought on rules addressing SIM swapping and port-out fraud, delaying Monday's compliance deadline. The reprieve, though, isn't as long as CTIA, NCTA and the Competitive Carriers Association wanted (see 2406270028). The bureau found that delay of the rules until March 10, as the groups asked, “would not serve the public interest,” a Friday order said. But the bureau said the requirement won’t kick in until OMB completes its review of the information collection requirements in the rules and the FCC publishes a notice in the Federal Register announcing the compliance date. “This will effectively result in a single synchronized timeframe,” the order said. The review is expected to be completed no earlier than November, the order said. The FCC “gave the industry a half a loaf, which is better than giving them the whole loaf,” Margot Saunders, senior counsel at the National Consumer Law Center, told us. Saunders said “it’s too bad” the requirements aren’t already in place. “SIM swap and port out frauds cause devastating losses to consumers, especially to low-income consumers who are using prepaid phones, which are more vulnerable,” she said: Consumers often don’t “have the means to launch expensive litigation to recoup their funds. The new regulations impose relatively modest requirements -- which do not seem to be overly complex, or need radical new systems to be developed.” The commission "is not unaware of the complexities of implementing the requirements,” but “we do not find the complexities outlined by Petitioners persuasive to overcome the Commission’s stated concerns regarding the urgency of addressing these types of pernicious fraudulent schemes,” the order said.

Former President Donald Trump denounced the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 -- some of which FCC Republican Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington wrote -- in a post on Truth Social Friday. “I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal,” Trump wrote. “Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.” Carr is listed as principal author of the FCC chapter in Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, the book outlining Project 2025’s 180-day plan for a second Trump administration. Simington is credited as a contributor. Neither Simington nor Carr commented.

Following court directions, the FCC filed at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday “a certified list of items constituting the record of Commission proceedings” related to the net neutrality order in docket 24-7000. The 6th Circuit last week declined to transfer the case to the D.C. Circuit as the FCC requested (see 2406280060). The list runs more than 1,100 pages and includes comments filed starting in 2020.

In an update to Congress on its rip-and-replace program, the FCC said as of June 1, it has received 23,830 reimbursement claims across 122 of the 126 applications approved for a funding allocation to replace Huawei and ZTE communications gear and services. It also approved more than $693 million in claims “for which funds have been fully disbursed to recipients or are in the process of being disbursed through the U.S. Treasury.” The FCC noted a May 2 letter from Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to Congress urging full funding, which would close the program's shortfall of more than $3 billion (see 240502007). The Wireline Bureau “has continued to review Reimbursement Claims submitted by recipients and disburse funds within the approved funding allocations for costs reasonably incurred to remove, replace, and dispose of covered communications equipment and services,” the report said in Tuesday’s Daily Digest: “We have also received and reviewed the sixth and seventh rounds of status updates submitted by Reimbursement Program recipients.” The FCC estimated that 12% of participants have completed the program. Complaints from participants include “(1) absence of full funding; (2) supply chain delays; (3) labor shortages; (4) weather-related challenges; and (5) extended review times in the processing of requests for reimbursement,” the report said. Providers continue seeking additional time to complete the program. This week, Hotwire Communications became the latest to seek an extension, citing delays in obtaining replacement equipment, labor shortages and funding “uncertainties.”

Recent U. S. Supreme Court decisions on judicial deference to federal agencies and agency enforcement actions will have “significant impacts” on FCC matters, but “how they apply may vary significantly by context,” according to a Monday post from HWG attorneys Christopher Wright, Sean Lev and Jason Neal. Wright and Lev are former FCC general counsels. “Many FCC actions are based on statutory provisions that are at least arguably ambiguous, and litigants affected by those decisions will in some cases have a greater chance to prevail in federal court,” in light of the Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision (see 2407010036), the attorneys said. However, many of the rules that Congress directed the FCC to implement use terms like “appropriate” or “reasonable," they noted. “The meaning of the Court’s reasoning regarding those instances where Congress clearly has authorized some amount of discretion will be important (and surely contested),” they said. While SCOTUS ruled previous decisions that relied on Chevron deference remain in effect, that's also likely to get tested in the courts, they wrote. In its decision in SEC v. Jarkesy (see 2406270063), the court didn’t specify what opportunities for a jury trial satisfy the Seventh Amendment. Although FCC enforcement proceedings haven’t generally involved juries, even before Jarkesy an entity facing an FCC forfeiture could decline to pay, and eventually face a civil suit from DOJ to collect the unpaid money, a proceeding called a “trial de novo.” The FCC has previously contended that this opportunity satisfies any 7th Amendment requirements, the attorneys said.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday issued another decision concerning regulatory law, Corner Post v. Board of Governors, which is expected to also add to the number of challenges against regulatory agencies filed in court. But the effect for the FCC is expected to be zero, unlike last week’s decision in cases challenging the Chevron doctrine (see 2406280043), because the Communications Act, not the six-year statute of limitations in the Administrative Procedure Act, governs appeals of FCC decisions. In Corner Post, SCOTUS, in a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, revived a North Dakota convenience store's challenge of a Federal Reserve regulation covering debit card "swipe fees." Businesses pay banks these fees when customers use debit cards to make purchases. Corner Post argued that it shouldn’t be bound by the six-year statute of limitations to challenge a 2011 regulation because it opened for business in 2018. SCOTUS held that an APA claim doesn’t accrue for purposes of the six-year statute of limitations “until the plaintiff is injured by final agency action.” The administration, representing the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, had argued that adopting Corner Post's legal position "would substantially expand the class of potential challengers" to government regulations and "increase the burdens on agencies and courts." Industry lawyers noted that under Section 402(a) of the Communications Act, petitions for review of FCC orders, except those involving licenses, must be filed within 60 days. The deadline for appealing license decisions in Section 402(b) is 30 days. The APA deadline has never applied, lawyers said.

The FCC’s rechartered Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council on Friday held the first meeting of its cycle at FCC headquarters. The meeting was organizational and offered little substance. CSRIC will focus on AI and 6G with three working groups (see 2406100047). And it will consider “how can we harness AI for good … while also preventing and mitigating harms associated with the use of AI,” Public Safety Bureau Chief Debra Jordan said. Another focus is next-generation 911, Jordan said. “In the future, consumers will have an increasingly wide range of wireless devices that can transmit 911 calls over a variety of networks -- you will examine how to best ensure people can call for help across these expanding platforms and options and in the next-generation 911 environment,” she said. Moreover, CSRIC will develop a plan “for more secure and reliable 6G networks and services that minimize risks,” she said. It feels like 5G is just getting started, “but we want to be forward-looking,” Jordan added. Sanford Williams, an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, said, AI “has swiftly transitioned from a futuristic concept to an integral part of our daily lives, from voice assistance … to advanced machine learning algorithms predicting consumer behavior.” Williams added, “AI is literally everywhere.” He played for CSRIC members the deepfake President Joe Biden political robocall that was featured during the FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee Wednesday (see 2406260041). Williams noted that Biden’s executive order on AI (see 2310300056) delegated several tasks to the FCC, including examining the potential for AI “to improve spectrum management, increase the efficiency of non-Federal spectrum usage and expand opportunities for the sharing of non-Federal spectrum.” The order instructed the FCC to consider use of AI for improving network security, resiliency, and interoperability through next-generation technologies including self-healing networks, 6G, and open radio access networks, Williams said. FCC staff need help from industry experts in all CSRIC's areas of study, he said. In brief remarks, Rosenworcel thanked members for agreeing to serve on CSRIC. "It will be hard to surpass the last CSRIC’s work on 5G network security and mitigating the vulnerabilities of software in cloud services, but I think you’re up to the challenge,” Rosenworcel said. CSRIC co-Chair Billy Bob Brown from the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said the world has never faced greater cyber risks. “I believe we face the greatest challenge of our generation -- an existential challenge -- but I also have hope.” CSRIC is expected to next meet Sept. 27.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court Friday rejected an FCC motion to move the net neutrality appeal to the D.C. Circuit (see 2406240027). “When considering a motion to transfer a multi-circuit petition, we give considerable weight to our selection in the lottery,” the court said in docket 24-7000. “That lottery system would not mean much if a party disappointed by the luck of the draw could transfer the case to its preferred forum.” The case doesn’t present any of the “unusual circumstances requiring transfer,” the order said. Eleven petitions for review were filed in seven circuits, the court said. “All but one of the petitioners oppose transfer,” it said: “The D.C. Circuit has some familiarity with the legal classification of broadband through its consideration of prior FCC orders. But the FCC’s vacillating positions on the proper classification of broadband demonstrate that the prior orders do not represent the staggered implementation of a single undertaking.”