Week of April 14–19, 2025Telecom Intelligence: Week of April 14, 2025
The tariff other shoe dropped, and SpaceX turned up the spectrum pressure. On April 14 the administration launched a Section 232 national security investigation into semiconductor and electronics imports, confirming that last week's smartphone exemption was a bridge to sector-specific tariffs rather than a reprieve. SpaceX chose the same day to escalate at the FCC, filing new data it said proved EchoStar barely uses its AWS-4 spectrum and renewing its demand for a sharing proceeding in the 2 GHz band. And the FCC teed up its April 28 open meeting with an agenda heavy on satellite modernization, previewing rules to streamline licensing and expand spectrum flexibility for the booming space economy.