The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act action brought by lawyers Mark O’Connor and Sara Leibman, who allege that defendants fraudulently represented that Frequency Advantage was a “very small business” qualifying for “designated entity” status and a bidding discount in a 2015 spectrum auction. The case had been brought against UScellular and Frequency Advantage, along with other defendants, including Advantage Spectrum, King Street Wireless and Telephone and Data Systems. The court earlier dismissed the case but granted plaintiffs “leave to amend their allegations to allow them to attempt to proffer different allegations or transactions from those already in the public domain,” the court said: “The Amended Complaint fails to do so. The ‘core allegation’ Plaintiffs-Relators identify in their Amended Complaint is the same as in their original Complaint, which the court already held did not overcome the public disclosure bar. They proffer the same FCC filings and other public information from their original Complaint.”

The FCC's finding that Wide Voice violated its 2019 access arbitrage order via a business restructuring that let it impose tandem charges was "reasonable and lawful," the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday in a docket 21-71375 decision, denying WV's petition for review. While WV argued the FCC order should be set aside because the agency decision wasn't supported by evidence and deviated from its own legal precedent, the three-judge 9th Circuit panel concluded the agency decision "was not arbitrary and capricious, nor unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act." WV outside counsel didn't immediately comment.

A three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit unanimously rejected Schwab Multimedia’s appeal of FCC decisions that led to the broadcaster losing its permit to build an AM station in Culver City, California, said an opinion Friday from Judge Justin Walker. “You can’t build a radio station without a place to put it,” wrote Walker. Schwab had appealed the agency’s denial of its fourth tolling request to extend construction deadlines for the unbuilt KWIF(AM) Culver City. After losing its original construction site Schwab had argued that its failure to construct had been caused by industry delays from the COVID-19 pandemic and California wildfires, and that it had secured a new site, though that site hadn’t yet been approved by the FCC. The agency said that site loss was the actual reason for the delays, and that site loss is not a valid reason for extending construction deadlines under FCC rules. “Because the agency’s decision was reasonable and reasonably explained, we affirm,” the opinion said.

AT&T asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to review the FCC's November order resolving a pole attachment complaint the carrier filed against Duke Energy. In its petition (case 23-1010), AT&T said the FCC's order denied it "the full relief it sought" by requiring it to "pay a substantially higher rate for use of Duke’s poles than the just, reasonable, and fully compensatory new telecom rate AT&T’s competitors pay for use of comparable space on the same utility poles." It asked the court to vacate the order and "provide such additional relief as may be just and proper." The companies are also seeking reconsideration of the order in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (see 2212290050).

Dish Network has joined the International Dark-Sky Association in asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reject the FCC's partial approval of SpaceX's second-generation constellation. The D.C. Circuit clerk on Thursday ordered Dish's appeal to be consolidated with IDSA's (docket 23-1001). Dish said in its notice of appeal, docketed late Thursday, that the FCC "arbitrarily and capriciously [ignored] unrebutted expert studies submitted by DISH showing that SpaceX’s Gen2 system would significantly exceed the applicable power limits adopted by the FCC for the 12 GHz band, and thus would risk causing unacceptable interference with DISH’s Direct Broadcast Satellite ... service." It also said the FCC deprived interested parties of an opportunity to obtain and comment on data that was the subject of a submission SpaceX made to the agency regarding whether the second-gen system complies with power limits. That violates the Administrative Procedures Act, Dish said.

The question of whether the U.S. government legally electronically surveilled China Telecom is moot since the FCC revoked the company's domestic and international authorizations without using the classified fruits of that surveillance, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled Tuesday (docket 21-5215). The appellate court said its denial of China Telecom's petition seeking review of the FCC order also shows the government petition -- which sought a ruling that the surveillance was lawful and that its findings were admissible in the FCC proceeding -- "no longer presents a live controversy." The D.C. Circuit vacated the order granting the government petition and remanded it back to the U.S. District Court with instructions to dismiss. Deciding for the D.C. Circuit were Judges Karen Henderson, Greg Katsas and Harry Edwards, with Henderson writing the decision. A China Telecom outside counsel didn't immediately comment.

Duke Energy asked the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review an FCC November order denying its petition for reconsideration regarding a pole attachment rate dispute with AT&T. Parts of the order "exceed or are inconsistent with the FCC’s jurisdiction and statutory authority" and are "an abuse of discretion," the North Carolina electric company said in a petition posted Monday in docket 22-2220 (see 2211170051). Duke asked the court to vacate parts of the order "to be designated in the time, form, and manner required by the court." The petition stems from a September 2021 Enforcement Bureau order partly granting AT&T's complaint that it was charged "unjust and unreasonable" pole attachment rates by Duke (see 2109210075). AT&T and the FCC didn't immediately comment.