FCC Reform

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel shared with her colleagues a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would begin the process of strengthening the FCC’s rules for notifying customers and federal law enforcement of breaches of customer proprietary network information (CPNI). The updates would better align the FCC’s rules with recent developments in federal and state data breach laws covering other sectors. The proposal outlines several updates to current FCC rules addressing telecommunications carriers’ breach notification requirements. These include:

A new chapter in the ongoing saga of net neutrality and who governs the internet will take shape over the next year thanks to another shift in power at the Federal Communications Commission. With new appointees from President Joe Biden firming up a Democratic majority at the agency, reinstating Obama-era net neutrality rules thrown out under the Trump administration will be a top priority for the FCC. In late 2021, Biden named Jessica Rosenworcel the permanent chair of the FCC.

The Federal Communications Commission approved a proposal seeking comment on improving transparency and efficiency in the competitive bidding process for the E-Rate program. The proposal would require bids for E-Rate services and equipment to be uploaded into a centralized document portal managed by the Universal Service Administrative Company. This would replace a process by which service providers submit bids directly to applicants for E-Rate-supported equipment and services. The order also seeks comment on other ways to improve the competitive bidding process and

There is no such thing as a 25/3 Mbps broadband connection, or a 100/20 Mbps broadband connection, or even a symmetrical gigabit broadband connection on fiber. For a long list of reasons, the broadband speeds that make it to customers vary widely by the day, the hour, and the minute. And yet, we’ve developed an entire regulatory system built around the concept that broadband connections can be neatly categorized by speed. What do regulators mean when they set a speed definition of 25/3 Mbps?

The Federal Communications Commission seeks comment on the requirements for the Affordable Connectivity Program and a timeline for its rapid implementation. On November 15, 2021, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Infrastructure Act or Act), which modifies and extends the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBB Program) to a longer-term broadband affordability program to be called the Affordable Connectivity Program. The Infrastructure Act directs the FCC to undertake a proceeding to adopt final rules for this modified program.

Free Press compiled a fact sheet on internet service provider (ISP) investments before, during and after the restoration and then repeal of broadband internet's classification as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act during the tenure of former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai. Here are the highlights:

Reps Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and John Yarmuth (D-KY) introduced the Fair and Clear Campaign (FCC) Transparency Act (H.R.5897) to require the Federal Communications Commission to modernize reporting requirements related to political advertising aired by broadcasters by making reports machine-readable. The FCC currently requires TV and radio broadcast stations to publicly report broadcast time sold or given away for political advertising.

There is currently a policy debate circulating asking who should pay to fund the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund. For decades the USF has collected fees from telephone carriers providing landline and cellular phones – and these fees have been passed on to consumers. As landline telephone usage has continued to fall, the fees charged to customers have increased. To fix this, there have been calls to spread fees more widely.

The Federal Communications Commission announced the agenda for its September open meeting. In the September 30, 2021 meeting, the FCC will:

The repercussions of the Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I auction are still being felt as waiver requests for winning bids roll in and disputes over whether or not certain bidders were qualified in the first place rage on.