The “must-vote” clock on radio group Audacy’s request for a temporary waiver of FCC foreign-ownership rules is set to expire Wednesday, and FCC officials told us they're expecting its approval, though at least one Republican will dissent on what in several past proceedings has been a routine request. Audacy, which owns more than 200 stations and is the second-largest radio group in the U.S., is seeking the waiver to allow it to first complete a bankruptcy restructuring that has George Soros-affiliated entities purchasing its stock. The FCC’s Democrats have already voted the item, agency officials told us.

The House Commerce Committee is back on track to advance the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-8449) as part of a markup session Wednesday, as expected (see 2409100070), but the measure’s Senate backers still face headwinds. The panel said Monday night it will mark up HR-8449, which would mandate that automakers include AM radio technology in future electric vehicles, along with 15 other bills. The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is eyeing attaching her Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) to an end-of-year package instead of pursuing another markup attempt before Congress recesses at the end of September for pre-election campaigning. She previously eyed a potential September markup of S-4207 (see 2408150039) in hopes of resurrecting the measure after it repeatedly stalled earlier this year. S-4207 would restore the FCC’s spectrum auction authority through Sept. 30, 2029, and provide a vehicle for allocating funding for the commission’s lapsed affordable connectivity program and other telecom priorities.

A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit was skeptical on Monday of TikTok’s argument that the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act's planned ban of the platform in the U.S. is unconstitutional (see 2406210004). The statute requires China-affiliated ByteDance must sell TikTok by Jan. 19 to avoid the ban. The D.C. Circuit’s review also looped in a related challenge to that law from a group of TikTok creators. DOJ and ByteDance want the D.C. Circuit to rule by early December so they can have time for a likely challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court before the Jan. 19 divestiture deadline.

Fred Moorefield, who long oversaw spectrum policy at DOD, last week pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to engage in dogfighting and interstate travel in aid of racketeering. He faces up to five years in prison. Moorefield, 63, left DOD 11 months ago after the charges were announced (see 2310030058).

Title I or Title II of the Communications Act would bar the New York Affordable Broadband Act (ABA), said amici supporting ISP groups in briefs Friday at the U.S. Supreme Court. NCTA, a cable industry group that didn’t join the original May 2021 challenge that several national telecom associations filed in a district court, said the ABA “would impose unprecedented and unlawful rate regulation on broadband services.” The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) also condemned the state law. “If the ABA becomes effective, it will achieve the opposite of what it purports to accomplish, making it harder for communities of color to subscribe to broadband.”

The FCC’s June rules for foreign-sponsored content violate the Administrative Procedure Act because the agency didn’t provide notice of plans for expanding the 2021 rules to cover political ads and public service announcements, said NAB in a petition for review filed Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. The 2024 order was a response to a D.C. Circuit ruling in favor of an NAB-backed challenge to portions of the FCC's 2021 foreign-sponsored content rules. The FCC “did not even attempt to provide a rationale for changing course,” to go after PSAs and issue ads, NAB said in the filing, which echoes arguments Commissioners Nathan Simington and Brendan Carr raised in dissents back in May. “Adopting rule changes nobody could have reasonably anticipated is a textbook example of unfair surprise,” Carr wrote at the time.

Verizon faced tough cross-examination Friday as consumer advocates hammered the company’s petition for Connecticut deregulation. Paul Vasington, the carrier's senior director-regulatory and government affairs, said during a Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) virtual hearing that the market where the ILEC seeks deregulation has reached “full potential” competitively given many VoIP and wireless options. However, officials from the Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC) questioned whether Verizon competitors offer services that are the functional equivalent of landlines.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday invalidated the FCC’s definition of “qualifying concealment element” in its wireless siting declaratory ruling approved in June 2020 under former Chairman Ajit Pai (see 2006090060). A three-judge panel upheld other parts of the 2020 ruling, but a lawyer who argued the case declared victory and called on the FCC to immediately make changes based on the 9th Circuit's instructions.

SpaceX landing United Airlines as an in-flight connectivity customer could signal its domination of that sector, analysts and consultants say. In its announcement Friday, United said it will begin testing the Starlink service early in 2025, with the first passenger flights getting service later that year. United said passengers would receive Starlink connectivity for free.