Latest news with #FCC
Phone Arena
4 hours ago
- Business
- Phone Arena
EchoStar pays $500M to stay out of bankruptcy and to buy time for FCC talks
An 8-K filing made by EchoStar indicates that the parent company of the nation's fourth largest wireless carrier, Boost Mobile, and Dish Network, plans on making a debt-interest payment on Friday of more than $500 million. The payment is actually due on Monday and by paying the $500 million, EchoStar gets to delay filing for bankruptcy although it will not make a second payment due July 1st. EchoStar hopes that by making one of the two payments due in the coming week, it has bought itself some time to negotiate with the FCC. The regulatory agency's Chairman, Brendan Carr, has previously threatened to take away some of EchoStar's spectrum licenses. The second interest payment due July 1st, which EchoStar won't pay, comes to $114 million and by refusing to make the payment, a 30-day grace period is triggered. While EchoStar has enough cash on hand to make both interest payments on time, the company is holding off on one of them in order to gain some leverage in negotiations with the FCC. Carr wants EchoStar to give up licenses on spectrum that he says the company isn't using. The FCC Chairman said, "It's my view that right now, we are really working hard to make sure this valuable public resource of spectrum is put to use. No new news to break, but I think the status quo needs to change. There's lots of different paths forward there and all options are still on the table at the FCC." -FCC Chairman Brendan Carr Former FCC chief of staff Blair Levin, who now works as a policy analyst at New Street Research, says that Carr wants to "force a reallocation of spectrum from EchoStar to others." What Levin is talking about is the 2 GHz spectrum licensed by EchoStar which FCC Chairman Carr asked EchoStar about in a letter. Carr wants to know exactly how often EchoStar is using the 2 GHz band. The reason why Carr is so interested in EchoStar's 2 GHz usage is because Elon Musk's SpaceX has its eyes on the 2 GHz spectrum because it is superior for satellite to cellphone communications than the airwaves that SpaceX uses now. The FCC chairman had no comment about a meeting he supposedly attended at the White House earlier this month with President Donald Trump and EchoStar Chairman Charlie Ergen. Secure your connection now at a bargain price! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
The Star
7 hours ago
- Business
- The Star
Trump wants EchoStar, FCC to reach 'amicable' deal over wireless licenses, company says
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a "One Big Beautiful" event at the White House in Washington, DC., U.S., June 26, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump prodded Dish TV parent EchoStar Corp and Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr earlier this month to reach an amicable deal over the fate of the company's wireless spectrum licenses, the company said in a filing on Friday. In May, the FCC told EchoStar it was investigating the company's compliance obligations to provide 5G service in the United States, questioning EchoStar's buildout extension and mobile-satellite service. Bloomberg News first reported that Trump met on June 12 with EchoStar Chair Charlie Ergen and later called Carr to take part in the meeting. EchoStar has been trying to shield its cache of wireless spectrum licenses from the threat of revocation by the FCC. The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Friday and had previously declined to confirm the meeting took place. Carr did not immediately comment on the report on Friday but at a monthly FCC press conference on Thursday he told reporters, regarding EchoStar, that the "status quo needs to change" and added there was a "narrow window of opportunity here." EchoStar said in a filing on Friday that Trump "encouraged the parties involved to reach an amicable resolution." Ergen told Carr this month any reconsideration of the construction deadline extensions or revision to the 2 GHz band's sharing rules "would threaten the viability of EchoStar's current operations and future plans." U.S. satellite TV provider DirecTV terminated its agreement to acquire EchoStar's satellite television business last year, which includes rival Dish TV, over a failed debt-exchange offer. EchoStar said the FCC review was "harming EchoStar's ongoing deployment and threaten its viability as a wireless provider as well as endanger the video and broadband satellite services upon which millions of consumers rely." EchoStar previously disclosed that it missed roughly $500 million in interest payments, citing uncertainty around the ongoing FCC review but said on Friday that based on current discussions with the commission it was making interest payments to "further extend the timeline for EchoStar to explore an acceptable resolution of the FCC's stated concerns." EchoStar said on Friday that it was forgoing some other interest payments, citing uncertainty around the FCC review. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Porter and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Wall Street Journal
9 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
The Supreme Court's FCC Tax Dodge
Can Congress empower administrative agencies to raise taxes without concrete constraints? Six Justices ruled they can on Friday (FCC v. Consumers' Research) in the Supreme Court's most disappointing decision this term. At issue is a Federal Communications Commission program that Congress established in 1996 to subsidize 'universal service.' The law gives the FCC broad authority to levy taxes on telecom providers and their users to finance universal service, however the agency defines the term. The FCC, in turn, has delegated authority to implement the tax to a nonprofit.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Supreme Court turns aside conservative challenge to $8 billion phone and internet subsidy program
WASHINGTON − The Supreme Court on June 27 upheld an $8 billion federal program that subsidizes high-speed internet and phone service for millions of Americans, rejecting a conservative argument that the program is funded by an unconstitutional tax. The case raised questions about how much Congress can 'delegate' its legislative authority to a federal agency and whether the Supreme Court should tighten that standard. In a 6-3 decision, the court said Congress set clear guidance on how the program should work. "For nearly three decades, the work of Congress and the (Federal Communications) Commission in establishing universal-service programs has led to a more fully connected country," Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the majority. "And it has done so while leaving fully intact the separation of powers integral to our Constitution." Three of the court's six conservatives dissented. Justice Neil Gorsuch said the majority wrongly concluded that an executive agency can decide for itself what taxes to impose, a power only Congress has. "The framers divided power among legislative, executive, and judicial branches not out of desire for formal tidiness, but to ensure ours would indeed be a Nation ruled by `We the People,'" Gorsuch wrote in a dissent joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. Under a law Congress passed in 1996, telecommunications companies are charged a Universal Service Fund fee – passed on to customers − that boosts phone and internet service to households and hospitals in rural areas, to low-income families, and to public schools and libraries. A private administrator overseen by the Federal Communications Commission distributes the funding, collects the fees and estimates how much needs to be raised each quarter. The FCC must approve the estimate before it's used to determine fees for each carrier. The conservative group Consumers' Research, a carrier and a group of consumers challenged this setup, which has been the law for nearly three decades, asserting it's Congress, not the FCC – and certainly not a private entity − that must determine the fee level. "At its heart, this case is about taxation without representation," Trent McCotter, an attorney for the group, told the Supreme Court in March. 'The amount of public revenue to raise is a quintessential legislative determination, not some minor detail to be filled in later.' While appeals courts in Ohio and Georgia rejected those arguments, the Louisiana-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared the universal service fee unconstitutional. The challenge was part of a conservative effort to curb the 'administrative state' that has often been successful at the high court. But Paul Clement, who served as solicitor general under former President George W. Bush − a Republican − represented a trade association for the telecommunications industry defending the program. He told the justices this was not the right case to revamp Supreme Court decisions that had set a low bar for the non-delegation rule. 'We all benefit from having a communications system that is truly universal,' Clement said. 'I may not live in rural Alaska, but it's nice to be able to place a call there.' And the Justice Department warned that declaring the funding scheme unconstitutional would jeopardize many other programs. The telecommunications law, according to the department, follows the same delegation framework Congress has used in a range of areas, including to prevent unfair competition, oversee the securities industry, ensure the safety of food and drugs, regulate labor relations and set air-quality standards. Gus Hurwitz, senior fellow at the Center for Technology, Innovation & Competition at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, said he's not surprised the challenge failed. He called it an aggressive attempt to get the court to stop Congress from delegating power to the executive branch. But the justices have been addressing that concern in other ways, Hurwitz said, including through its "major questions doctrine" ruling that agencies should have less power to act unless there's clear congressional approval. The lead case of the two that were consolidated for arguments is Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers' Research. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court upholds Universal Service Fund for internet, phone
The Verge
11 hours ago
- Business
- The Verge
Trump's ‘big beautiful bill' could mean slower Wi-Fi for you
The Senate version of the budget reconciliation bill, backed by President Donald Trump, removes protections for unlicensed spectrum that broadens the capacity of the 6GHz Wi-Fi band. This could result in slower Wi-Fi speeds. Under the bill, which may be voted on at the end of this week, the FCC would sell off some of that spectrum to mobile carriers such as AT&T, which could use it to improve the speed of their mobile data. The bill includes a provision requiring the FCC to auction 800MHz of spectrum, including bands allocated by the FCC in 2020 for unlicensed use. The version of the bill that passed the House excluded the band of frequencies between 5.925 gigahertz and 7.125 gigahertz, which includes 6GHz; however, there's no such exclusion in the Senate version. The FCC could be 'forced to sell off as much as half' of the unlicensed spectrum currently in the 6GHz band, according to Public Knowledge. Senator Cruz, chair of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, says this new spectrum auction will help prepare carriers for the next 'wireless leap.' However, as recently as this month, AT&T stated that it has 'no pressing need' for additional spectrum. One thing a spectrum auction will do is generate more revenue for the government to offset the tax cuts in the bill. Removing this spectrum from unlicensed use could negatively impact the 6GHz Wi-Fi band, which added a huge swath of capacity to Wi-Fi when former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai made 1,200 megahertz of spectrum available for unlicensed use in 2020, during Trump's first term. The 6GHz band is used by Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 to deliver faster speeds over wider, 1200MHz channels (Wi-Fi 6 uses up to 160MHz-wide channels), increasing the speed and reliability of Wi-Fi, especially with tri-band routers. The 2.4GHz and even 5GHz bands are becoming increasingly congested as we rely more and more on Wi-Fi in our homes and businesses. Devices that use 6GHz benefit from a wider, less congested 'super highway' to travel on, which reduces latency and increases speeds. Devices like newer Apple iPhones, Samsung Galaxy and Pixel devices, as well as newer MacBooks, iPads, and Lenovo ThinkPads, can use 6GHz, as well as Xbox series X and S, and some Samsung and LG TVs. Wi-Fi 6E is also being adopted by smart home devices, as it facilitates faster communication. In a letter to Cruz and the other committee members, urging them to keep the 6GHz band unlicensed, the Wi-Fi Alliance states that the 6GHz band is 'the foundation for Wi-Fi's continued development and growth' as well as playing 'a pivotal role in enabling technologies of the next decade, including artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, augmented and virtual reality.' The letter was signed by Apple, HP, Comcast, Amazon, and Meta, among others. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is in favor of selling off portions of the unlicensed spectrum.
