Satellite broadband providers, especially Starlink and Amazon’s Kuiper service, are likely the big winners in the Commerce Department’s rewriting of the BEAD program rules, New Street’s Blair Levin told investors Monday. Smaller providers that use unlicensed spectrum to offer broadband also won, he said. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, slammed the revised rules that the Trump administration released Friday (see 2506060052).
Senate Commerce Committee Republicans released the panel's portion of a budget reconciliation bill Thursday night with language that proposes mandating that the FCC sell at least 800 MHz of reallocated spectrum, as expected (see 2506050064). Some communications industry groups praised the measure, but observers said they expect other stakeholders to criticize it. Lobbyists said they expect that Senate Commerce Democrats will likely vote against the proposal, as party-affiliated House Commerce Committee members did last month when that panel marked up its part (see 2505140062) of what became the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (HR-1).
The Council of the European Union on June 5 extended the suspension of EU safeguard measures on Ukrainian iron and steel to further support Ukraine's economy during its war with Russia. The extension takes effect June 6 and runs for three years.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Thursday released the panel’s budget text with a revised version of the House-passed moratorium on state AI regulation (see 2506030068).
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NASHVILLE -- BEAD deployment activity will necessitate permitting reform at the federal, state and local levels, C Spire Vice President-Government Relations Chris Champion said Tuesday at the Fiber Broadband Association's annual conference and trade show. Agencies are aware “they are about to be bombarded” with applications, he said. Those permitting reforms must be paired with appropriations that allow agencies to staff up to handle applications, he said. Numerous other speakers echoed the call for permitting reform.
Widespread problems with transmitting foreign-trade zone entries are one of several technical problems that plague customs brokers and compliance managers as the effects of the Trump administration's rapid policy changes make themselves felt. Compounding the difficulties is the administration's decision to pull back from engagement with the trade industry through its Trade Support Network and the cancellation of bi-weekly ACE calls.
The Trump administration will back off its demand for states to send it the personal data of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) announced Tuesday.
NASHVILLE -- The federal government is warehousing or squatting on much of its spectrum holdings, Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said Monday at the Fiber Broadband Association’s Fiber Connect 2025 trade show and conference. Also at the event, states and providers complained about BEAD uncertainty (see 2506020047).
The Energy Department last week approved a final authorization for liquefied natural gas exports to non-free trade agreement countries from the Port Arthur LNG Phase II energy project in Texas. The agency said this is the Trump administration's first final LNG export approval "and marks another step in restoring regular order to LNG export permitting -- reversing the previous administration’s pause and delivering on the president’s pledge to unleash American energy." Once completed in 2027, Port Arthur LNG Phase II is projected to export 1.91 billion cubic feet per day, the Energy Department said.