The aviation safety concerns the FAA and airlines voiced about top U.S. wireless carriers’ use of 5G on the C band “won’t be completely resolved by this summer,” though ongoing “dialogue and collaboration” between all parties means “we’re on a better path” now, said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during a Thursday Senate Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee hearing. Buttigieg’s assessment of the current situation kicked off a new case of heartburn among some communications sector stakeholders.

NTIA said FCC approval of Intelsat's license transfers as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization (see 2108270001) should include conditions on adoption of cybersecurity and system security plans that are guided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology cybersecurity framework. In a docket 21-375 petition Wednesday on behalf of the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecommunications Services Sector, NTIA said the proposed conditions on the transfer of Intelsat's authorizations come from a letter of agreement with Intelsat. DOJ, DOD and the Department of Homeland Security say conditions worked out with Intelsat include it not allowing disclosure or access to U.S domestic communications infrastructure records without prior consent. The letter said Intelsat consented to report within 48 hours any security incident. "This is a normal part of the FCC approval process," Intelsat emailed Thursday. "The conditions mentioned by the NTIA have already been agreed upon between Intelsat and Team Telecom [and] their sending it over to the FCC saying these are the conditions for approval and Intelsat and the government agencies have agreed, paves the way for the FCC to give its approval. We are expecting the FCC approval imminently." The agency didn't comment.

AT&T and Verizon plan to start turning on their C-band operations Wednesday, despite a push by major airlines to delay the start. Both said Tuesday they will defer the launch around some airports and expressed frustration with the FAA.

IHeart Media’s request for FCC OK to be more than 25% foreign-owned got the nod by the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecom Services Sector, said an NTIA letter posted in docket 20-51 Wednesday (see 2110140043). The approval is among the first under the revised process that replaced the former "Team Telecom" review by U.S. security agencies after a 2020 FCC vote. The committee wants the FCC to condition approval on iHeart’s compliance with the same conditions it agreed to for a previous foreign ownership request: to hire a U.S.-based U.S. citizen to oversee national security concerns and be approved by DOJ. IHeart would notify DOJ before using any “new Outsourced or Offshored Service Provider” to collect personal information about subscribers, and about changes to where such data is stored. Those conditions are standard for foreign ownership requests, broadcast attorneys told us.

FCC commissioners approved an NPRM on making networks more resilient during disasters 4-0 Thursday, as expected (see 2109280051). Commissioners said more mandates could come as a result of the investigation. Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the FCC plans a virtual field hearing as part of the Oct. 26 meeting on Hurricane Ida. Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr traveled to Louisiana this week to tour areas hit by the latest storm. Commissioners also unanimously adopted an order on foreign ownership and an NPRM about closing two methods for scammers taking control of victims' mobile phones, SIM swapping and port-out fraud. Such actions were as expected (see 2109280009).

An FCC draft order that would create questions for licensees seeking permission to be owned by foreign nationals is expected to change little from its draft version and to be approved unanimously at the agency’s Sept. 30 meeting, said industry experts in recent interviews. “The industry is getting a narrow set of questions,” said Vinson & Elkins' Richard Sofield. “Are they as narrow as they’d like? No, but there is certainty.” DOD, DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security make up Team Telecom, which Sofield used to chair.

Three Democratic senators criticized CTIA for lobbying efforts on states' implementation of the 988 suicide prevention hotline. "Telecom lobbyists appear to be pressing state legislatures to reduce the size of the fees assessed and the scope of the services to which the fees could apply, well beyond -- and in some cases contrary to -- the guardrails already written into law," Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Chris Murphy of Connecticut wrote CEO Meredith Baker Thursday.

A draft order on streamlining and standardizing the process by which FCC applications from foreign-owned companies are reviewed by the “Team Telecom” executive branch agencies is expected to be approved unanimously at Wednesday’s commissioners' meeting, said commission and industry officials.

While most associations have dropped plans for in-person summer conferences due to COVID-19, APCO is forging ahead with plans to meet Aug. 2-5 in Orlando. It's even offering a $100 credit to attendees, to be used at next year's conference. Infection rates are on the rise in Florida, and experts warned against holding the conference live.

Team Telecom recommended the FCC deny OK for the portion of a Pacific Light Cable Network undersea cable system directly linking the U.S. to Hong Kong, DOJ announced Wednesday (see 2006170041). The interdepartmental body cited national security concerns; the commission declined to comment. Commissioner Geoffrey Starks tweeted Wednesday that the FCC "must protect" undersea cables because they are "critical to the future of cloud computing." He responded to our news of Team Telecom's recommendation. Starks added that it's the first Team Telecom committee recommendation. Team telecom found the application raised concerns PLCN would advance the Chinese government’s "goal that Hong Kong be the dominant hub in the Asia Pacific region for global information and communications technology and services infrastructure, which would increase the share of U.S. internet, data, and telecommunications traffic to the Asia Pacific region traversing [People’s Republic of China] territory and PRC-owned or -controlled infrastructure before reaching its ultimate destinations in other parts of Asia." But the DOJ, DOD and Department of Homeland body, formally called the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecom Services Sector, recommended the commission grant links of PLCN connecting the U.S. to Taiwan and the Philippines. That part lacks China-based ownership and is "separately owned and controlled by subsidiaries of Google" and Facebook, DOJ said. It would have a "condition that the companies’ subsidiaries enter into mitigation agreements." April 8, the FCC granted Google’s request for special temporary authority to commercially operate the segment of PLCN connecting the U.S. and Taiwan for six months. The other deployment "would have allowed for the highest capacity subsea cable connection between" the U.S. and Asia and "the first direct connection between" the U.S. and Hong Kong, Justice said Wednesday. "This raised national security concerns, because a significant investor in the PLCN is Pacific Light Data," which is part of Dr. Peng Group, China's No. 4 telecom services provider. Google has worked through established channels for many years to obtain cable landing licenses for various undersea cables, "and we will continue to abide by the decisions made by designated agencies in the locations where we operate,” a spokesperson emailed. Facebook looks "forward to working with Team Telecom and the FCC toward obtaining a full license that is consistent with this petition and the FCC’s views," a spokesperson emailed. China's embassy in Washington, PLCN and Dr. Peng Group didn't comment. There's heightened U.S. scrutiny of China and its trade and IP practices and threats over cybersecurity.