WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - The head of the U.S.

Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday he had no

discussions with the White House about the Trump Organization's

self-branded mobile service and a $499 smartphone dubbed Trump

Mobile.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr, who was designated chair by President

Donald Trump in January, told reporters he had learned about the

project through a public press release and had no conversations

with anyone outside the agency about it.

"We're going to run our normal process if there's anything

that needs to be done by the FCC on that," Carr said. "I think

competition is a good thing - so think it's great we get more

sort of entry, more competition."

Trump Mobile is powered by Liberty Mobile Wireless, a

Florida-based company founded in 2018 by entrepreneur Matthew

Lopatin. The company operates as a mobile virtual network

operator, renting bandwidth from major carriers such as T-Mobile

to offer its own service under a different name.

Separately, Carr said the commission is continuing to review

CBS-parent Paramount Global's ( PARAA ) proposed $8.4 billion

merger with Skydance Media. The FCC did not make a decision by

the 180-day informal deadline in mid-May.

"We continue to run our normal course review on that one,"

Carr said.

Trump has sued CBS, alleging the network deceptively edited

a "60 Minutes" interview with 2024 presidential candidate Kamala

Harris to "tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party" and

the former vice president in the election. Trump's suit is

seeking $20 billion.

In January, Carr reinstated complaints about the "60

Minutes" Harris interview, as well as complaints about how Walt

Disney's ( DIS ) ABC News moderated the pre-election televised

debate between then-President Joe Biden and Trump and Comcast's ( CMCSA )

NBC for allowing Harris to appear on "Saturday Night

Live" shortly before the election.

CBS has urged Carr to dismiss the complaint, saying it did

nothing wrong and that the complaint aims to turn "the FCC into

a full-time censor of content."