INCOMPAS News -- June 2, 2025

Vol. 21, No. 22

June 2, 2025

INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering to Testify at June 4 House AI Hearing

This Wednesday, June 4, at 10:30 a.m., INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering will testify in front of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology during its hearing AI in the Everyday: Current Applications and Future Frontiers in Communications and Technology.

Pickering looks forward to talking about INCOMPAS’ unique membership across the entire AI ecosystem and our continued efforts to promote competition and innovation at every level.

Read his full written testimony here.

INCOMPAS Urges FCC to

Maintain EchoStar's Buildout

and 2 GHz Licenses

INCOMPAS last week filed comments in response to the FCC's public notices seeking comment on EchoStar Corporation’s 5G buildout deadlines and its use of the 2000-2020 MHz and 2180-2200 MHz bands (2 GHz band) for mobile-satellite service.

INCOMPAS urged the Commission to support EchoStar’s continued development of its groundbreaking 5G Open RAN network and to avoid actions that could undermine competition and investment in the mobile marketplace.

"EchoStar represents the most significant injection of new infrastructure-based competition into the wireless market in over a decade. The Commission's investigation into the company's buildout extensions is not only unjustified but risks sending the wrong signal to every challenger working to bring more choice, lower prices, and better connectivity to the American people," said INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering.

"EchoStar’s Open RAN deployment using AWS-4 and other spectrum assets represents a transformative shift in the wireless ecosystem, one that encourages vendor diversity, drives down costs, and enhances cybersecurity through modular, software-defined networks. This model breaks away from legacy, proprietary systems dominated by a few large vendors and opens the door for more agile, U.S.-based suppliers and innovators. Limiting EchoStar’s use of AWS-4 spectrum or allowing new MSS entrants in the band would jeopardize this progress and risk undermining a critical avenue for increasing competition and network resilience—two of the FCC’s top priorities in the evolving 5G landscape."

Pickering added, "the 2 GHz band is a rare asset in the mobile-satellite service space, uniquely positioned to support hybrid satellite-terrestrial networks that can bring connectivity to remote regions and improve network resiliency. Opening the 2 GHz band to new entrants at this juncture would severely damage EchoStar, which is actively building out critical national infrastructure. Allowing new entrants into the band before the full potential of these efforts has been realized risks massive interference will setback in our collective ability to deliver robust, competitive broadband nationwide.

INCOMPAS urges the Commission to consider the recommendations in its comments as it examines the issues raised in the Public Notices and preserve the construction milestone extensions it granted to EchoStar in 2024. Revisiting these obligations would undermine regulatory certainty and threaten to stall innovation—ultimately hurting consumers and communities that depend on competitive alternatives."

FCC Posts Required Locations for Certain Funding Mechanisms

The FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau issued a public notice announcing that the interim required locations lists for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, the Bringing Puerto Rico Together Fund and the Connect USVI Fund are now available. The bureau said it and USAC are transitioning these carriers from reporting USF high-cost program supported broadband deployment in the High-Cost Universal Broadband portal using latitude/longitude/addresses to Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric IDs.

FCC Grants Blanket Section 241(a) Authority for Carriers to Grandfather Interconnect VOIP Service Provisioned Over Copper

The FCC Wireline Competition Bureau issued an order granting, on its own motion, blanket authority under Section 214(a) for carriers to grandfather interconnected VoIP services provisioned over copper lines and waives the associated requirement to file an application with the FCC under the discontinuance rules.

The bureau also, on its own motion, waives for a period of two years the need for carriers applying for Section 214(a) discontinuance authority to follow the testing methodology and parameters described in the 2016 technology transitions order and its technical appendix. The bureau said these actions facilitate the transition from legacy networks comprised of copper to more advanced alternatives.

House E&C Oversight to Hold Robocall, Robotext Hearing June 4

The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing entitled Stopping Illegal Robocalls and Robotexts: Progress, Challenges, and Next Steps on June 4 at 10:15 a.m. ET.

“Illegal, predatory robocalls and robotexts have defrauded Americans of billions of dollars and undermined the public’s faith in the communications they receive. Despite Congressional and agency enforcement actions, rapid technological development has made it increasingly difficult to stop this scourge,” said Chairmen Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Gary Palmer (R-AL). “We look forward to examining ongoing efforts to target these fraudsters and ways to protect Americans from illegal robocalls and robotexts that are meant to harass and deceive.”

House Bipartisan Rural Broadband Caucus Relaunched

Reps. Dave Taylor (R-OH), Angie Craig (D-MN), Rob Wittman (R-VA), James E. Clyburn (D-SC), Bob Latta (R-OH) and Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM-03) announced that the House Congressional Rural Broadband Caucus has relaunched for the 119th Congress. The bipartisan caucus, founded in 2016, has served as a forum for members of Congress to spearhead solutions that close the broadband access gap across the country.

SHLB Coalition et al. Urges House to Oppose

Resolution to Overturn Wi-Fi Hotspot Order

The Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition, and more than 80 state and national organizations, sent a letter to the House of Representatives urging them to oppose S.J.Res.7 and H.J.Res. 33, which would overturn the E-Rate hotspot decision.

They said repealing the E-Rate hotspot program would jeopardize internet access for millions, particularly in rural and underserved areas. They also said if enacted, the resolutions would force the FCC to reject thousands of pending hotspot funding applications and permanently prohibit the agency from reinstating the program.

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