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00:00Regulators are increasingly shaping America's space race.
00:04The FCC decides who gets access to Spectrum,
00:07approves satellite communication systems,
00:09and is now confronting the next frontier of the space economy,
00:13from orbital data centers to direct-to-device connectivity.
00:17Joining us now is FCC Chairman Brendan Carr
00:20to discuss the future of space communication,
00:22Spectrum, wireless policy,
00:24before we turn to some of the major media issues
00:27facing the Commission.
00:28Chairman Carr, thank you so much for being back on Bloomberg Tech.
00:32Should we start with maybe the more nascent area
00:35of SpaceX's business plan, which is Orbital Data Center?
00:40I think a lot of value to the audience and to Americans is,
00:44could you just explain how the FCC regulates Orbital Data Center?
00:49Why it has a role in oversight of how much material
00:54from a compute perspective will be in orbit above the Earth?
00:58Yeah, it's your question.
00:59So, at the FCC, and frankly, all across the Trump administration,
01:03we're focused on two things.
01:05One, we want to make sure that consumers are right away
01:08feeling a difference in their life.
01:10And right now, we're seeing that on the connectivity front
01:12with speeds are up, prices are down, competition is intensifying.
01:16But the second piece goes to your question,
01:18which is, what are the fundamental regulatory changes we can do
01:21that are going to pay off for consumers in the long run?
01:24And a lot of that has to do with the emerging space economy.
01:28To your point, we're seeing many, many more things go into orbit,
01:31whether it's all of this new generation of low-Earth orbit satellites
01:35or data centers.
01:37And so the FCC has a role to play, one,
01:39to make sure that everyone has the spectrum access they need
01:42in order to launch those.
01:43But even things like orbital debris end up hanging off
01:46of a lot of the FCC's authorizations.
01:48And of course, that's in conjunction with a broader group
01:51of regulators as well.
01:53When SpaceX or another player comes to the FCC seeking approval
01:57to deploy data centers in the form factor of a satellite into orbit,
02:02what are the considerations by which the FCC decides approval
02:06or to block approval?
02:09Well, the first thing for us is we want to go much more quickly.
02:12You know, when I took over, we launched what we call
02:14a Build America agenda.
02:16And a key piece of that is boosting America's space economy.
02:19And it used to be when we would get satellite applications
02:22that would come in, we would get, you know, one or two or three a year.
02:25And we would do individualized, bespoke custom reviews.
02:29And what we're fundamentally changing is to an assembly line mindset.
02:34In fact, we're going to vote this month to change how we run
02:37our Space Bureau operations.
02:38So it'll be objective criteria.
02:40And if you hit those, you should expect much faster FCC approvals.
02:45In fact, we've cut the backlog of FCC approvals down by about half.
02:48We're moving much faster.
02:50And so we're giving people objective criteria to hit.
02:53That way we can end up improving, you know, thousands or hundreds of thousands
02:56of applications.
02:57Whereas before, our processes would take us, you know, months or years
03:00to do a small handful of that.
03:03Away from orbital data centers, a big focus right now is the wireless networks
03:07in the context of space.
03:09Prior iterations of the SEC debated and looked at a fourth national wireless network
03:16with Echostar, right?
03:18And I think I'm right in saying, Chairman Carl, you were critical of prior approaches
03:23to that future market.
03:26What has happened in the interim is that the FCC has handed some of those same licenses
03:33to SpaceX for Starlink.
03:35What do we interpret through that mechanism?
03:39Well, you're right.
03:40There was a mindset several years ago that said we have to have four separate,
03:45standalone mobile wireless providers, let alone many other competitors that we have
03:49in the broader connectivity market.
03:51And people said that if you didn't have four, that prices would rise for consumers
03:56or speeds would slow down.
03:57And we haven't seen that, obviously, at all.
03:59We've completed the process of facilitating DISH, Echostar, effectively exiting the market
04:05when it comes to mobile wireless.
04:07And consumers continue to benefit from a lot of price competitions.
04:11So it's a great time for consumers.
04:12But it's also a really good time for companies because we're taking a lot of the costs,
04:16unnecessary costs, out of the system, whether it's permitting reform,
04:20whether it's allowing providers to retire these old copper networks
04:23that they had to subsidize in addition to their new networks.
04:26And so this old view of having to have four individual mobile wireless providers
04:31or the sky would fall, we didn't buy.
04:33And obviously, I think the evidence is coming in to show that this new theory is correct.
04:38You told Bloomberg last week that you have not had substantial conversations
04:44with SpaceX about their wireless ambitions, substantial conversations.
04:50So Chairman Carr, I just asked, have you had any conversations of any degree of substance
04:55with SpaceX about it?
04:57No, I don't think I've had any of much.
04:59I guess if I hadn't used substantial, maybe I would have avoided the follow-on question.
05:03But I don't recall having any conversations with them about that.
05:06Look, I do think one of the things we're really excited about is this new emerging trend
05:11towards direct-to-cell technology, where you can go straight from one of these low-worth
05:15orbit satellites right to a handset.
05:18Obviously, Starlink is doing that.
05:19We've facilitated them getting from Spectrum to do it.
05:22But also, Amazon is looking to do it.
05:24AST Space Mobile is looking to do it.
05:26So we want every single competitor in this sector to do well.
05:31Overall, you know, the FCC has done quite a large body of work
05:35to come up with some kind of regulatory framework, I think, right, for direct-to-device.
05:40The accusation is of maybe favoritism towards SpaceX.
05:44You've also denied several of their requests.
05:48How are you going about building out that framework?
05:53Yeah, a couple of things.
05:54On direct-to-cell in particular, you know, our view was to have two or three
05:58facilities-based providers in that segment so that the United States could lead the world in that.
06:04And that's something that I think is really important to President Trump,
06:06is that U.S. lead when it comes to these new emerging technologies.
06:10And we are in a really good position to do that.
06:12There are always lots of stories about FCC taking action to benefit Starlink or SpaceX.
06:17And I get it.
06:17It probably results in more clicks.
06:19But the reality is we are, you know, uplifting every single operator or business
06:24that's in the space economy.
06:25We're taking actions that benefit Amazon Leo, that benefit many smaller providers as well.
06:31So Reflect Orbit, Logos, AST Space Mobile, of course, SpaceX as well.
06:37So there's many, many companies in this sector that are benefiting from our new mindset at the FCC,
06:42which is to go faster with these approvals.
06:45We don't want to get stuck navel-gazing.
06:47We're live on Bloomberg Television and on Bloomberg Radio.
06:50This is Bloomberg Tech speaking with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.
06:54There's also a technical consideration about spectrum, which is why is it important, Chairman,
07:01for a direct-to-device provider to have exclusive spectrum use in and amongst everything else that's happening up there?
07:08Well, it's a very efficient way to operate, to have your own spectrum.
07:11And so we've been very open to spectrum deals.
07:14On the one hand, we've had about $130 billion worth of deal flow go through the FCC,
07:19this Trump administration, not just mobile wireless, but across the board.
07:23And we're moving hard on spectrum as well and not just direct-to-sell.
07:26We're voting this month to create 160 megahertz of new spectrum for mid-band offerings in what's called the C
07:34-band.
07:35And it's effectively going to create what we're referring to as a super band of 440 megahertz wide channel
07:42for mid-band spectrum, for 5G, for 6G.
07:45But you're right on the satellite side as well.
07:47So SpaceX has access to, I think it's 65 megahertz of spectrum that they can use for direct-to-sell.
07:53Well, Amazon just announced that they are looking to purchase Global Star,
07:57which also has spectrum that could be used for direct-to-sell technology.
08:01So you see a lot of the players in this space, AST as well, that are looking to obtain their
08:06own spectrum rights
08:07so they can stand alone and offer that service in a complement to existing connectivity services.
08:15Chairman Carr, just before the show started, Bloomberg broke some news in a story that a group of about a
08:21dozen states
08:22is poised to sue to block the Paramount Skydance Warner Brothers deal.
08:27I think there had been prior reporting that various attorneys across those states have been preparing for that anyway.
08:33I know that the FCC kind of has a nominal role to look at the foreign financing of such a
08:39deal.
08:39But I hope you appreciate it.
08:41I have to ask you about what the latest is there and your reaction to a statewide antitrust suit.
08:49Well, it's hard to see a real legitimate antitrust action.
08:53But, of course, you know, I leave it to the antitrust experts to weigh in on this.
08:57I did think it was interesting that there was a statement, at least attributed,
09:00to the California Attorney General that said that they would not sue if Paramount agreed to spin off CNN.
09:07It's hard to conceive of a competition or antitrust theory that takes you all the way up to the point
09:12where owning or not owning CNN as part of that broader group is a legitimate line
09:17that antitrust or competition law would draw.
09:19For our part, we do have a piece of this with respect to some of the foreign investment,
09:23and we're running a standard process on that, and we haven't made a final decision there yet.
09:30In recent interviews, you've also been asked, of course, about Disney.
09:35And you've said that you've not made a decision on whether to pull Disney's broadcast licenses
09:40over various diversity and inclusion practices.
09:45Again, remind us of the FCC's remit in that area,
09:49but what it would take for you to look at a potential action.
09:53With respect to Disney in particular,
09:56the FCC has three proceedings that are going on, or sort of three buckets of issues.
10:01One, starting all the way back in March of 2025,
10:04I wrote a letter to Disney leadership raising concerns about some of their practices,
10:09including what we call invidious forms of DEI discrimination,
10:13where there's potential evidence indicating that they may have been discriminating
10:17with respect to pay or compensation or workplace opportunities based on race, gender, or protected characteristics.
10:24There's a role for the FCC there.
10:25We have particular rules on EEO policies and discrimination.
10:29So we've been looking into that for quite a while.
10:32In fact, we've been doing some letters of inquiry, our versions of subpoena,
10:35and frankly, the view was that Disney was being disingenuous in the way it was responding to the FCC's inquiries.
10:43And so we took the next step in our enforcement abilities,
10:47which was we called in all of Disney's broadcast licenses for early renewal.
10:52So Disney has now applied,
10:53and they have to demonstrate that they've been operating in the public interest.
10:58There have been petitions to deny the renewal of those Disney stations.
11:03And so the FCC is looking at all of that very carefully right now.
11:06To your point, we've not made the final decision.
11:08But at this point, Disney is demonstrating, attempting to demonstrate,
11:12that it should get those licenses renewed.
11:14And we'll ultimately see what the record shows.
11:16We also have, obviously, a separate issue going on with Disney right now with respect to the view
11:21and their claims of the view being a bona fide news program.
11:24But we have the DEI, the license renewal, and the view proceeding going.
11:28But more broadly, we're trying to hold all broadcasters accountable
11:31to their public interest standard.
11:33We have issued similar actions with respect to a number of other broadcasters.
11:38I think for years, people took the view that broadcast TV should be treated
11:42just like cable or a podcast or a newspaper.
11:44But that's not what the Communications Act and Congress said.
11:47And so we want to make sure that all broadcasters are, in fact,
11:50living up to their public interest obligations.
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