■ Charter Hits Pause on Stock Buybacks – for a Quarter

■ Taiwan Opens Market to Foreign LEOs Despite Musk-China Ties

■ Virgin Media O2 Demands End to Britain’s Innovation-Killing Net Neutrality Rules

■ Vermont Governor’s Exec Order to Steer Ad Money to State-Based Broadcasters

■ Colorado Broadband Office Seeks Comment on Draft Middle Mile Plan

■ Comcast Backs Microsoft on Open Weights AI Models

■ Kalshi Demands Netflix Take Down Trailer over Nevada Bet Slip Image

■ Bipartisan House-Senate Bill Would Help K-12 Schools Defend against Cyberattacks

■ Ookla Looks at Geography and Cloud Responsiveness

■ Becky Rudd Named CFO of Matanuska Telecom Association in Palmer, Alaska

LEO: SpaceX made history on July 24. The massive Starship rocket deployed in a test Starlink’s next gen V3 satellites for the first time not long after leaving the Starbase, Texas, launchpad. The V3 sats are intended to be a more powerful rival to terrestrial ISP giants like Comcast, Charter, AT&T, and Verizon. V3s will support 1 Tbps of downlink and 160 Gbps of uplink capacity. “That’s an ~10x improvement in downlink capacity and an ~22x increase in uplink capacity from the Starlink V2 satellite,” SpaceX claimed on its website. (Starship successfully deployed 20 V3s before they re-entered the atmosphere and burned up as planned.) SpaceX is counting on greater data density and upgraded phased-array antennas “to more efficiently serve customers simultaneously in both densely and sparsely populated regions and adapt beam data density in real-time to match the data needs of customers.” (More after paywall)

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■ Leftwing Group Seeks Sanctions Against Nexstar CEO, Company Lawyers over TEGNA Board Seats

■ California Democrats Want to Keep AT&T Tied to Copper Networks

■ Free State: California’s COLR ‘a Fiction That Needs to Be Buried’

■ New Mexico Calls for Comments on $10 Million ACP Replacement Program

■ GCI Expands LTE, 5G Coverage along Alaska’s Major Travel Corridors

■ CableLabs Names Mark Bridges as New President & CEO

■ Sen. Deb Fischer to Chair July 30 Hearing on Impact of AI on Telecom

■ Nexstar Finishes ATSC 3.0 Rollout in Top 25 Markets with Cleveland Build

■ New Jersey Gov. Sherrill (D) Signs Bill Banning Discriminatory Surveillance Pricing

■ Plume Design Names Peter Wulfraat as Chief Revenue Officer

Cable: Charter Communications on July 24 reported weaker second‑quarter results as broadband competition from fiber, fixed wireless and increasingly Starlink continued to pressure growth. The company said Internet customers fell by 172,000, a steeper drop than the 116,000 decline a year earlier. The company lost 120,000 broadband subs in the first quarter of 2026. As of June 30, 2026, Charter served 29.4 million Internet customers. Charter added 406,000 mobile lines, down from 491,000 in the second quarter of 2025, bringing its total to 12.5 million. (More after paywall)

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■ T-Mobile Had Postpaid Net Account Additions of 277,000 in Q2, Down 13% YOY

■ Judge Asked to Remove Nexstar Execs from TEGNA Board. Nexstar Says It’s Going by the Book

■ Texas Broadband Office Says It’s Been Hit By Misinformation

■ Conservative Groups Fear TV License Retribution if Democrats Retake FCC

■ Lawyer Oxenford Pokes a Few Holes in Opposition to 39% Cap

■ New Report Warns ISPs That Speed Isn’t Sufficient to Retain Customers

■ Tracy Willis Resigns as Shentel VP and Chief Accounting Officer

■ Dean Littleton Named President of Media at Scripps

■ Brian Jones Promoted to CFO at the National Content & Technology Cooperative

■ Aurora Networks, Adara Technologies in Deal Backing NextGen Broadband

■ Senate Panel Advances Former TV Anchor/GOP Candidate Kari Lake as Ambassador to Jamaica

Earnings: Comcast reported deeper broadband losses in the second quarter, saying July 23 that subscribers fell by 167,000, slightly worse than FactSet’s estimate and far above the 65,000 lost in the first quarter. Comcast added 448,000 mobile lines, its best quarter on record, increasing total wireless lines to 10.2 million, with penetration at 7% of total addressable wireless lines in its footprint. It lost 280,000 video customers. Revenue declined 1.2%, while net income dropped to $3.5 billion from $11.1 billion a year earlier, when results included a $9.4 billion Hulu‑related gain. Adjusted net income fell 20.3% and adjusted EBITDA decreased 13.4%. Comcast returned $2.1 billion to shareholders and said Peacock posted its first‑ever quarterly profit, with EBITDA of $189 million and 2 million paid subscriber additions to reach 48 million. Net cash provided by operating activities was $8.1 billion. Free cash flow was $4.6 billion. On June 29, Comcast said it was spinning off NBCUniversal and Sky to form their own company. (More after paywall)

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■ Top Texas Republicans Want Audit of State Broadband Office over LEO Awards

■ AT&T Adds 367,000 Fiber, 279,000 FWA Subs in Second Quarter

■ Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) Seeks FCC Probe of ABC, NBC, and CBS over Trump Speech Non-Coverage

■ T-Mobile, AT&T Top Ookla’s Semiannual Network Performance Report

■ AT&T Quietly Ended FWA Boycott of New York after Affordability Law Dispute

■ Free State’s Kennedy: Pole Disputes Just Drag On, Stalling Broadband Deployment

■ Carr Praises Nomination of Adam Candeub to Head DOJ’s Antitrust Division

■ LAPD Chief Supports FCC License Renewal of Disney-Owned ABC7

CAPT. Cable: On a July 20 webinar to promote a cable trade show next week in Florida, the head of the National Content & Technology Cooperative made a few surprisingly candid remarks, including that Starlink is working just fine for him on the high seas. “I have a Starlink Mini. It works very well in the open water and when I’m on the dock or I’m mooring,” said NCTC President Lou Borrelli, who works from his boat in the summer, his Mini nailed to the stern. Borrelli also praised Starlink as a reliable, taxpayer-friendly Internet connection. “If we’re all being brutally honest, does anybody think $7,500 a passing for BEAD money is a good idea? Like I get it: People got approved for it, but come on now!” Borrelli said. He acknowledged being a fiber fan as a long-term solution and claimed Elon Musk’s Starlink could end up a niche service if it failed to “launch a ton more satellites, and that’s going to take a ton more money.” SpaceX just raised $85.7 billion in its June IPO. “You’ve got to pay attention. They’ve got more money than anybody I know.” (More after paywall)

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■ Wolfe Research Notes AT&T’s 5G Growth in New York

■ SpaceX to Report Financial and Operational Results on Aug. 4

■ Lightshed Partners a Bit Surprised by Basis of TRO on Paramount-WBD

■ Malibu City Council Caves to NIMBYs on Wireless Facilities

■ FCC: Scripps Can Form ABC-NBC Duopoly in Lexington, Kentucky

■ Weigel Concerned about Internet Access Needed for DRM Protected ATSC 3.0 Content

■ Despite Flurry of Bills, Pennsylvania Lawmakers Skip New Data Center Laws

■ Article Uncovers Wasteful USF Internet Support Spending in Alaska

■ Phoenix Center: AI’s Biggest Users Fear Its Replacement Power Most

BEAD: The Commerce Department’s NTIA approved on July 17 California’s spending plan under the $42.45 billion BEAD program, leaving Illinois as the only state still awaiting the go-ahead to fund projects. California received more than $1.8 billion, with about $1.4 billion – roughly 77 percent – earmarked for deployment. The plan is expected to reach about 270,500 homes and businesses, down from 339,000 in last year’s draft. California will fund fiber for 53% of locations, low‑Earth orbit satellite for 27%, and fixed wireless for 20%. NTIA said taxpayer support will average $5,234 per location, with ISP per-location matches averaging $3,178.

California’s plan proves once again that Starlink and Amazon Leo will not be feasting on taxpayer money as so many so loudly proclaimed. (More after paywall)

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■ Morningstar Analyst Sees Starlink Pressuring Cable ISPs

■ Starlink Mobile Threat to Big Three Wireless Operators Overstated, MoffettNathanson Analysts Say

■ Politico Headline about FCC’s Carr Creates Reality Distortion Field

■ Clinton Confidant Paul Begala Hopes Too-Old Markey Loses Sept. 1 Primary to Moulton

■ Lumos Fiber Joins Allo Fiber in Overbuiding Cable One in Joplin, Missouri

■ It’s a Boy! Second Lady Usha Vance Gives Birth to Alec Neel Vance

■ Charter Trimming 112 Workers in Williamson County, Texas

■ Denver Attorney Shares Doubts about Antitrust Case against Nexstar-TEGNA Merger

■ Sen. Elizabeth Warren Concerned about Fox-Roku Deal

■ House Republican’s Bill Would Protect Kids from Predatory Chatbots

■ SpaceX Planning Starship Launch July 23, Just A Week after Mission Abort on Texas Launch Pad

Capitol Hill: Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R‑S.D., and Sens. John Fetterman, D‑Pa., and Deb Fischer, R‑Neb., introduced a bipartisan bill July 16 to require the FCC to review and improve its broadband mapping and challenge process. The Broadband Mapping Accurate Providers Act would direct the FCC to evaluate how providers dispute whether locations are serviceable, an issue lawmakers say has slowed efforts to target federal broadband funds. “Ensuring the accuracy of the FCC’s broadband map and its corresponding challenge process is critical to build on our progress to make federal broadband investments as effective and efficient as possible. I thank FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for supporting our efforts and for his continued commitment to connecting households across our country to the Internet,” Thune said. (More after paywall)

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■ Report: Virginia Yanks RiverStreet’s Contracts to Connect 30,000 Locations

■ CPUC, In Some Belt Tightening, Issues Fiber Grants at $95,000 Per Location

■ ACLP Analysts: Starlink, Amazon Leo Could Lose at Least $354 Million in BEAD Funding under New Maps

■ Breezeline, Down 4,500 Broadband Subs, Sees Starlink Vying in Very Rural Areas

■ West Va. PSC to Spend $60 Million to Keep POTS Working

■ Slaughter: FTC Commissioners Just as Democratically Accountable as Trump?

■ Starship Flight 13 Aborted after Multiple Engine Failures on Texas Launch Pad

■ Verizon to Cut about 500 Corporate Jobs, Sell 274 Retail Stores

■ GCI’s 5G Network Now Reaches 83% of Alaskans

Fiber: NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth struck a nerve with the fiber establishment. In a July 16 statement, Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton gave a ringing endorsement of fiber as a technology, saying it was “fundamentally different” and basically without peer in terms of throughput capabilities now and in the future. “Our nation should be investing in the infrastructure capable of supporting generations of innovation,” Bolton said. “Fiber has consistently proven to be that infrastructure, serving as the essential foundation upon which America’s digital economy is built and its AI-powered future will depend.” (More after paywall)

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■ Trump Rips Democrat Gov. Hochul for Data Center Pause in New York

■ Sonnya and Steve White Named Shentel/Glo Fiber’s 100,000th Subscriber Family

■ Wisconsin Report Repeats Dubious Claim of a BEAD Funding Gap

■ Dozens of House Republicans Want FCC to Protect Kids from ‘Radical Gender Ideology’ on TV

■ CPUC Warns AT&T about Surging Price of T‑1 Circuits

■ New Report: Nearly Half of States Have Dropped Chevron Deference

■ Former Top Hill Staffer: FCC Needs Just One Person Running It Post-Trump v. Slaughter

■ Who’s the Budget Hawk in the White House? Looks Like It’s the First Lady

■ Sens. Baldwin, Ernst Bills Would Help Rural ISPs Cut SEC Red Tape

■ MCNC Finishes $19 million Middle Mile Project in N.C.

FCC: Regulated TV stations cheered the news about FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s latest attempt to help them avoid suffocation from giant, unregulated Big Tech. Carr says he wants to eliminate the 39% cap that pins down Nexstar and Sinclair on ownership while Google, Apple, Netflix, and Amazon can roam the video marketplace largely without restriction on scale. “These rules were last updated before Netflix streamed a single movie, before the first iPhone, and before Instagram existed, and they continue to single out local broadcasters based on a competitive landscape that disappeared with the VCR,” Nexstar said in a July 15 statement. Carr’s approach is to replace a rigid 39% TV household reach cap with a softer one that calls for a case-by-case review of big TV station mergers to assess their public interest value. But Washington regulators, going back decades before Carr saw power, may have waited too long to try to rescue an industry at a time when regionally confined Nexstar pulls in about $5 billion annually and global Amazon collects the same amount about every 60 hours. (More after paywall)

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■ N.Y. Gov. Hochul (D) Orders One-Year Data Center Moratorium

■ Parks Associates Says Cable Broadband Losses Slowing

■ Report: States Asked by NTIA to Cut BEAD Locations Awarded to Starlink, Amazon Leo by Half

■ NAB: NextGen TV with DRM Will Remain Free to Viewers

■ A Few House Republicans Ask FCC to Adopt Mobile Phone Unlocking Rule

■ Ookla: Big Three Wireless Carriers Posted Higher Speeds in First Half of 2026

■ MAD Asks D.C. Circuit to Force FCC to Act on Fox 29 License Renewal Fight

■ Frontier Airlines to Add Starlink to 1,000 Aircraft

■ Fierce Broadband Has a New Owner: Private Equity Giant Apollo Global Management

■ Zayo Names a New CEO: Former Verizon Executive Sowmyanarayan Sampath

■ NTIA to Award $53 Million to AI‑Enabled RAN Architecture

NTIA: American policymakers must stay technologically neutral because choosing winners risks shutting out future innovations that could redefine communications.
Assistant Secretary of Commerce Arielle Roth is set to deliver that message in about one hour in remarks at the American Enterprise Institute. Focusing on technology debates echoing on Capitol Hill, Roth will argue that as AI becomes embedded throughout 6G networks, the U.S. must avoid locking in static policy assumptions that could undermine future breakthroughs. Roth, who is also the Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, will stress that 250 years of communications history show that no technology is ever “future‑proof,” noting that telephony, FM radio, cable, cellular and now low‑Earth‑orbit satellites all began as underestimated innovations before reshaping the market.

“Our responsibility is not to preserve today’s technologies, but to maintain the competitive conditions that produce tomorrow’s breakthroughs,” Roth says. “If history is any guide, the defining applications of AI‑native 6G have not yet been invented. Our job is not to predict them. It is to ensure that America remains the place where they are discovered.” (More after paywall)

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■ NCTA: State Pole Enforcement a Mixed Bag

■ FCC Reports World Cup Telecom Security Has Not Been Messy

■ Louisiana Broadband Chief Iyengar Focused on Environmental Approvals

■ Oklahoma to Spend $14.5 Million on Broadband Access Portals in State Libraries

■ Pediatricians Group to FCC: Shield Children from ‘Gender Ideology’ on TV

■ Analyst Horace Cooper Warns ATSC 3.0 DRM Means End of Free TV

■ Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) Complains about Too Many Senate Vacation Days

■ 20,000 Optimum Customers Affected By Network Vandalism in Texas City

■ Ookla: D2D Satellite Links from Starlink Became a Lifeline in Parts of Venezuela after Double Earthquakes

■ Heidi Raphael to Lead the N.Y. Broadcasters Association

■ TEGNA Names Scott Gill as VP of Technology and Operations

Merger: A coalition of 12 state attorneys general sued July 13 to block Paramount Skydance’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, arguing the deal would create an entertainment giant with outsized control over film, television and streaming. Filed in federal court in Northern California and led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D), the lawsuit challenges a merger that would unite Paramount and Warner Bros. studios, combine Paramount+ and HBO Max steaming apps, and assemble the country’s largest portfolio of TV networks, including CBS, CNN, TNT, MTV and BET.

“This proposed $110 billion merger, the largest in Hollywood history, would extinguish competition between Paramount and Warner Bros. and inflict substantial harm on movie [theaters], basic cable distributors, and, ultimately, audiences nationwide,” the 38‑page lawsuit said. (More after paywall)

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■ State Pole Regulators in Washington to FCC: Leave Us Alone

■ Nexstar-TEGNA Antitrust Trial to Begin July 6, 2027

■ West Virginia Focused on Helping BEAD ISPs Overcome NEPA Hurdles

■ Former GOP FCC General Counsel Bruce Fein Slays SCOTUS over Trump v. Slaughter

■ Pennsylvania Considers Allowing Cities to Pause Data Centers for 18 Months

■ N.Y. Post: Charter’s Debt Is Holding Back Acquisition Bid by Comcast

■ Big Tech Has Borrowed $350 Billion to Fund Data Center Builds

■ Scripps, DIRECTV End 40-Day Retrans Blackout of 54 Stations

■ Q2 Earnings Calendar

LEO: Starship’s next test flight is set for Thursday, July 16, SpaceX said on its X feed over the weekend (July 11). SpaceX said the 90‑minute launch window opens at 5:45 p.m. CT for the vehicle’s 13th flight, which will repeat objectives from the previous test of the Starship and Super Heavy V3 vehicles while carrying next‑generation Starlink V3 satellites. Wall Street will be watching closely as analysts view the V3 hardware as a potential challenge to established Internet providers like AT&T, Comcast and Charter.

“The Starship upper stage’s primary objectives include the deployment of 20 Starlink V3 satellites, a relight of a single Raptor engine while in space, and another controlled entry, descent, and splashdown in the Indian Ocean,” SpaceX said. (More after paywall)

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■ Cable One Stock Takes a Hit on Broadband Sub Losses, MBI Debt Issues

■ California ALJ Approves Charter-Cox Merger But with New Conditions

■ Democratic AG Candidate in Texas Calls for Investigation of SpaceX over BEAD Awards

■ Conservative Groups Praise Carr’s Spectrum Auction Agenda

■ FCC Official: Consumers Deserve Clear, Clutter-Free Broadband Labels

■ JD Power Finds Business Internet Satisfaction Ticked Up in 2026

■ Analyst: Louisiana Was Ready Before Most for NTIA’s Pivot to BEAD Tech-Neutrality

■ Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) Prefers ‘Regulatory Reset’ to ‘Delete, Delete, Delete’

■ Charter Trimming 107 Jobs in Missouri Network Operations Center

■ Mission Accomplished: North Dakota Expects To Be the First to Close the Digital Divide.

Merger: Opponents of the Nexstar-TEGNA transaction jumped the gun. The D.C. Circuit refused to intervene in a key FCC ruling tied to Nexstar’s proposed takeover of TEGNA, rejecting every request brought by industry challengers and leaving the merger fight to continue at the agency and in other federal courts for now.

A three‑judge panel – Circuit Judges Neomi Rao, Robert L. Wilkins and Gregory G. Katsas – on July 9 denied a stay of the FCC Media Bureau’s March 19 approval of the deal. The court said the harms alleged by the Broadband Communications Association of Pennsylvania and other appellants were “either not irreparable or not certain,” pointing to a separate preliminary injunction in the Eastern District of California that already requires Nexstar to hold TEGNA assets separate, operate stations independently, and preserve existing MVPD relationships. (More after paywall)

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■ Appalachian Power Blames Comcast for Pole Cost Dispute

■ Nexstar Wants State AGs Booted from TEGNA Antitrust Case

■ Attorney Paul Clement Tries to Leverage Trump v. Slaughter to Free Nexstar-TEGNA Merger at FCC

■ Trade Groups to Back Capitol Hill Event on Network Vandalism

■ Sen. Cramer (R-N.D.) Hails North Dakota’s Broadband Deployment Speed

■ Analyst Surprised to See FCC at Top of This List

■ ACA Connects Kills Its Decades-Old D.C. Policy Summit

■ Oregon Fills a Few Gaps in its BEAD Map

■ SpaceX Wants Approval to Massively Expand Its Starlink Network

■ Wells Fargo Analyst: Starlink a Threat to AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile

■ FreeCast Launches FreeCast Cities Featuring Local TV

Ovah: Sen. Ed Markey says he will not seek another term in 2032 if he is re-elected in 2026.

After his first party primary debate on July 8 with opponent Rep. Seth Moulton in Chicopee, Mass., the Massachusetts Democrat said he wanted one more six‑year term to finish a progressive agenda that he has pursued for decades. Markey, 79, cited long‑running work on Medicare expansion, the Green New Deal, and expanding support for families. He won his first election to the U.S. House in 1976. He joined the Senate in 2013 after winning a special election.

“I need one more term to finish the agenda, this progressive agenda, and then I will step down, but we need to complete the agenda,” Markey told Hearst-owned WCVB, the ABC affiliate in Boston. “We need Medicare for all, we need the Green New Deal, we need to make sure we are fighting for every family who is out there who justifiably feels like they have been left behind.” (More after paywall)

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■ Is It Time to Take South Carolina Off the BEAD Map?

■ Republican Steve Hilton, Running for California Governor, Fights Carr, AT&T on CPUC Phone Regs

■ Free State: California Forcing AT&T to Waste Money on Copper Networks

■ Group: Data Center Noise Falls Between a Library and a Conversation

■ Comcast Escalating Fight With Appalachian Power over Pole Fees

■ After FTC Slaughter Case, Norm Ornstein Wants to Strip ‘Rogue Supreme Court’ of Appellate Jurisdiction

■ Media analyst Howard Homonoff: Comcast Spinoff Deepens Crisis for Cable Networks

■ Hamid Akhavan Resigns Suddenly From EchoStar

■ Maine Official Starts New Digital Tour in 1984 Volkswagen Van

■ Bluepeak Now Passes 500,000 Homes and Businesses with FTTH

■ People: Matt Mandel Joins CCIA as Vice President for Federal Affairs

SpaceX: Morgan Stanley is projecting massive long‑term revenue growth for SpaceX. In a July 7 report, firm analysts estimated $319 billion in revenue by 2030 and $3.3 trillion by 2040, saying the forecast reflects execution, regulatory, and engineering risks but also the company’s technological advantages. “… We believe SpaceX can convert energy into intelligence at scale with optionality to monetize through a range of consumer and enterprise solutions for the next era of AI … the final frontier,” the Morgan Stanley team said. SpaceX had about $19 billion in 2025 revenue. Morgan Stanley 2040 projection of $3.3 trillion in revenue – a figure four times Amazon’s current annual revenue – assumes SpaceX creates new total addressable markets in connectivity and physical AI. The Wall Street firm warned that high capital needs, including $300 billion in yearly capex by 2031, pose significant financing risks. “Starship Flight 13 in July, Starship Flight 14 in late 3Q, and first operational Starship payloads in 4Q are the key launch milestones,” the Morgan Stanley analysts said. (More after paywall)

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■ MoffettNathanson: SpaceX Has a ‘Near‑Monopoly in Rocket Manufacturing And Launch’

■ SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell Donates $325 Million in Stock to Trump Accounts

■ Supreme Court Allows Texas to Enforce App Store Accountability Act

■ Tarana Wireless Backs Talkie in Permitting Dispute in Maryland

■ FCC to Hold July 15–16 Workshop on Shift to Modern, All‑IP Systems.

■ Apparently, Justice Sonia Sotomayor Wasn’t in the Subjunctive Mood

■ Connected Nation Looking to Join Guinness World Records for the Longest Internet Literacy Live Stream.

■ Ookla Says U.S. 5G May Not Be Ready for AI

■ Mediacom Names Troy Griffin as SVP for Customer Operations

■ New Mexico’s Broadband Office Provides Planning Grant to Kit Carson Electric Cooperative

AT&T: AT&T wants the right not to repair. In a massive copycat filing, AT&T says in a 606-page document that it is going to stop repairing copper networks that have been damaged or vandalized or both. AT&T pointed to hundreds of locations across at least a dozen states, ranging from April 30 to June 20 this year, where it will not revive voice services. “The public interest is better served by allowing AT&T to redeploy its limited resources toward the next-generation networks necessary to compete in today’s communications marketplace, especially when replacement services are available,” AT&T lawyer Brett Farley said in the July 6 filing that related to voice services only. Farley used the same words in a June 18 filing that ran some 596 pages and included maps providing location names and states where the company is refusing to restore service “because comparable substitute service is available to all impacted customers.” In the new filing, Farley said the company was seeking “emergency authorization … to suspend AT&T’s voice services in various locations impacted by damage to AT&T’s legacy copper network.” (More after paywall)

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■ Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) Denies BEAD Favoritism for SpaceX

■ S&P Index Jumped 15% in Q2 but Cable and Telco Stocks Took a Beating

■ California Regulators Award Broadband Grants at $137,000 Per Location

■ Narrative Violation: SpaceX Denied Access to Upper C-Band Spectrum by Carr’s FCC

■ House Republican’s Bill Would Extend Deadline to Finish ARPA Broadband Grants

■ Oregon Governor Wants to Stop State Being ‘A Cheap Date’ for Data Centers

■ People: Jonathan Coscia Retires from Mediacom

■ Michigan Sen. McMorrow (D) Ends U.S. Senate Bid That Included Rural Broadband Plan

BEAD: The wait is apparently over. Amazon Leo is planning to begin low‑Earth orbit satellite Internet service later this year, putting new pressure on the federal government’s net $19 billion BEAD program. BEAD’s effort to close the digital divide, led by NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth, is steering about 96% of funding to fiber, cable, and fixed wireless networks nationwide, with Starlink and Amazon Leo getting the rest, equaling almost $1 billion. With Starlink already operating at scale and Amazon preparing to enter the market, satellite competition is accelerating faster than BEAD projects can be built, raising concerns that taxpayer‑funded networks may struggle to attain a sufficient number of subscribers to reach financial viability. The BEAD program currently has about 3.9 million locations to connect nationally. In a June 22 letter, the GAO urged Roth to “better communicate projects’ financial sustainability to Congress.” Amazon Leo did not identify the countries that will be first to receive service, though past statements have included Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. (More after paywall)

X Post of the Day

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Today’s Headlines

■ Gray to Create Six Big Four Combos in American Spirit Media Deal

■ Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Defeated Tuesday, Was a Notable Net Neutrality Flip-Flopper

■ Team at LightShed Partners Thinks Peacock Has Turned a Corner with Starz Deal

■ Amazon Leo Adds 29 LEOs with ULA Launch Early This Morning

■ Carr Tees Up Space Modernization Order to Streamline FCC Licensing

■ FCC to Vote July 22 to Simplify Broadband Labels

■ NCTA Wanted At Least Five Years to Clear Upper C-Band But Got About Three from FCC

■ DOJ Passing on Review of SoftBank’s Takeover of WideOpenWest (WOW!)

Grain: The FCC on July 1 approved a spectrum swap between T‑Mobile and Grain Management, granting applications that shift certain 800 MHz licenses to Grain and certain 600 MHz licenses to T‑Mobile. Grain is also paying T-Mobile about $2.9 billion. The FCC in an order released July 1 said the deal will advance more intensive spectrum use and support expanded 5G deployment. In approving the deal, the FCC imposed strict conditions on Grain to ensure the 800 MHz licenses are not warehoused. The agency shortened Grain’s proposed buildout deadlines to three and eight years from six and 12 years. (More after paywall)

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■ DISH DBS, Wireless Affiliates File Prepackaged Chapter 11 Cases

■ Starlink Slashes Prices in Memphis Apparently to Placate Residents over Data Centers

■ FCC Plans To Update Its Broadband ‘Nutrition Labels’

■ House Bill Looks to Avoid Repeat of ‘Rip and Replace’

■ Supreme Court Confirmed the Obvious: FCC, FTC Have Never Been Independent of the White House

■ Great Plains Not Giving Up Its Identity, CEO Foje Says

■ MoffettNathanson Analyst Fishman: Netflix a Leading Contender for Parts of Comcast’s NBCU

■ Moody’s Mulls Comcast Debt Downgrade, Fearing Impact of Broadband Competition

■ GAO Concerned about Financial Risks to BEAD Program

■ All Things Considered: Is It Time for Term Limits on Supreme Court … Reporters?

■ Telecom Law Expert Phil Weiser Upsets Sen. Bennet in Colorado Governor Primary

Auction: FCC Chairman Brendan Carr says creation of a new “Super Band” of spectrum will position the U.S. to lead the world in next‑generation wireless services. Carr said the FCC will vote July 22 on rules for auctioning 160 megahertz of Upper C‑Band spectrum next year, following 2025 legislation signed by President Trump that restored the agency’s auction authority. He told reporters the move, combined with earlier Lower C‑Band work, will create a contiguous block of 440 MHz of mid‑band spectrum for 5G, 6G and future services. (More after paywall)

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■ Analyst Peter Supino Doubts Comcast Spinoff Will Actually Happen

■ Would NBC Black Out Comcast in a Future Retrans Spat?

■ Center for American Rights to FCC: Deny ABC TV Stations’ License Renewal

■ EchoStar to FCC: Offshore Call Center Market Is Already Working

■ A3SA Calls Out Weigel Broadcasting on NextGen TV and EAS Compatibility

■ Davis Wright Tremaine Lawyers: Alaska Fiber Cuts Underscore Need for Resiliency

■ AI Requires FCC to ‘Reorient Its Section 706 Analysis,” FBA’s Bolton Says

■ California Gov. Newsom (D) Supports AI Public Equity Fund, Details to Follow

■ T-Mobile’s New Seniors Plan Includes a 15% Rate Hike Plus Free Apple TV, Five-Year Price Lock

■ WSJ: Dish DBS Preparing To File for Bankruptcy As Soon As Today

■ Shentel’s GloFiber Now Has 100,000 Internet Customers

SCOTUS: The Supreme Court struck down a federal law limiting the president’s ability to fire members of the Federal Trade Commission. In its June 29 ruling, the court’s conservative majority voted 6-3 to uphold President Trump’s March 2025 removal of Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a Democratic commissioner dismissed along with another Democrat, Alvaro Bedoya, because he said their views didn’t align with his agenda. Slaughter argued she was insulated from presidential removal under federal law except “for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office” – none of which she was accused of. The decision expands presidential control over independent agencies. “Slaughter’s view is incompatible with our constitutional design,” said Chief Justice John Roberts in a decision handed down as the Court nears the end of its term. “Although it is up to the Senate to decide whether to confirm those with whom the President would prefer to work, neither Congress nor the courts may saddle him with those with whom he cannot work. Subordinates who exercise the President’s power are subject to removal by him. Then, and only then, can they remain accountable to the President, and the President to the people.” (More after paywall)

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■ AT&T: CPUC’s ‘Home Base Is Regulatory Red Tape’

■ InfraCo to Propose Trump Build $125 Billion National Dark Fiber Network

■ Analyst Nispel: FCC Auction Haul Shows Verizon Wants to Keep ‘Network Leadership’

■ Critic: Sports Betting for Most People Costs about as Much as Starbucks

■ Kalshi Sues Illinois to Keep Prediction Markets Regulated by CFTC

■ Trump to Name FCC General Counsel Adam Candeub to Head DOJ’s Antitrust Division, N.Y. Times Says

■ Markey, Moulton to Debate July 8, Three Days before Markey’s 80th Birthday

■ Florida’s New Data Center Law Backed by DeSantis Takes Effect July 1

■ Drones Connected to Fiber Becoming Lethal Battlefield Weapons

■ CEI Analyst: ‘Broadband Remains an Oasis of Affordability’

■ GOCare Partners with Shentel on Automated Outage and Maintenance Platform

Split: Comcast plans to split into two publicly traded companies, just months after spinning off cable networks CNBC and MS NOW into Versant. The June 29 announcement said the media and broadband giant will spin off NBCUniversal and U.K.-based Sky as a combined media unit in a tax‑free transaction that will give shareholders stock in both firms. The transaction represents the unraveling of Comcast’s acquisition of NBCUniversal from General Electric in 2011 and Sky in 2018 and serves as a failed and costly experiment in massive vertical integration engineered by CEO Brian Roberts, son of Comcast founder Ralph Roberts. “This is a very exciting day for our company. The transaction we are announcing will unlock a more entrepreneurial management approach and open up a multitude of new opportunities for each business,” Roberts said. Comcast said each company will pursue distinct priorities and long‑term growth as independent entities. Comcast said the move reflects its strategy of positioning businesses to compete in fast‑changing markets shaped by technology shifts and evolving consumer behavior. As a major shareholder, Roberts will remain actively involved with both companies but was not assigned a specific title. Mike Cavanagh will serve as CEO of NBCUniversal/Sky and former Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis will become CEO of Comcast after the separation, which is expected to take a year. Wall Street liked the moves, sending Comcast shares up 23% in early trading Monday, probably because traders think Comcast has set the stage for a broadband merger with Charter Communications in the future. (More after paywall)

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