📞NG911 Services Regulation Compliance Requirements and Implications
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved a new information collection associated with certain rules adopted in a 2024 Report and Order concerning the implementation of Next Generation 911 (NG911) (NG911 Report and Order). The Commission also announces that compliance with these rules is now required. The Commission also amends the rules to remove certain paragraphs advising that compliance with the Commission's information collection requirements was not required until the Commission obtained OMB approval. This document is consistent with the NG911 Report and Order and rules, which state the Commission will publish a document in the Federal Register announcing a compliance date for the rule sections subject to OMB approval, and revise the rules accordingly.
Learn More📡FCC Proposes Broadcasting Rule Updates Impacting Compliance Requirements
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) seeks comment on several proposed updates to broadcast radio and TV rules to better reflect current application processing requirements, clarify ambiguity, and remove references to outdated procedures and legacy filing systems. Such action ensures that the Commission's rules are accurate, reducing potential confusion among the public, applicants, licensees, and practitioners, and alleviating unnecessary burdens.
Learn More📡Corrections to FCC Regulations for 5.850-5.925 GHz Band
On December 13, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) revised Commission rules. That document inadvertently added a rule section to its regulatory text that does not exist, resulting in an erroneous entry in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). This document corrects these errors in the regulatory text and the final regulations as published in the CFR.
Learn More📱FCC Proposes New Rules for Wireless Emergency Alerts
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) proposes to broaden the circumstances in which alert originators may send Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) messages using the "Public Safety Message" classification, which can allow consumers greater flexibility in how messages are presented on their mobile device, including the potential ability to silence alerts. The Commission also seeks comment on whether subscribers should be empowered to further customize their receipt of WEA messages, as well as additional steps that wireless providers, equipment manufacturers, and operating system developers can take to reduce the rate at which subscribers opt out of WEA.
Learn More📱FCC Updates on Wireless Emergency Alerts
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) revises the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) rules to allow alert originators the option to send "silent alerts" that do not trigger WEA's common audio attention signal or vibration cadence. This action grants alert originators greater flexibility in tailoring how WEA messages are presented. Further, to make as clear as possible to the public that any device marketed as a "WEA-capable mobile device" adheres to the full suite of WEA capabilities, the Commission also adopts its proposals to define a "WEA-capable mobile device," for the purpose of compliance with the Commission's WEA requirements.
Learn More🌊Implications of Proposed Submarine Cable Landing License Rules
The Federal Communications Commission ("FCC" or "Commission") takes another important step to protect the Nation's submarine cable infrastructure from threats in an evolving national security and law enforcement landscape by undertaking the first major comprehensive review of the Commission's submarine cable rules since 2001. This review seeks to develop forward-looking rules to better protect submarine cables, identify and mitigate harms affecting national security and law enforcement, and facilitate the deployment of submarine cables and capacity to the market. Among other things, the Commission proposes to adopt a three-year periodic reporting requirement for submarine cable landing licenses; in the alternative, the Commission seeks comment on shortening the current 25-year submarine cable license term or adopting a shorter license term in combination with periodic reporting. The Commission also proposes or seeks comment on codifying the Commission's legal jurisdiction and other legal requirements in its rules to provide regulatory certainty to submarine cable owners and operators. Additionally, the Commission proposes and seeks comment on appropriate applicant and application requirements to account for the evolution of technologies and facilities and changes in the national security landscape over the last two decades and to ensure the Commission has targeted and granular information regarding the ownership, control, use of a submarine cable system, and other things, which are critical to the Commission's review to assess potential national security risks and other important public interest factors. Further, the Commission seeks comment on improving the quality of the circuit capacity data and facilitating the sharing of such information with other Federal agencies. Through these proposals, the Commission seeks to ensure that the Commission is exercising appropriate oversight of submarine cables to safeguard U.S. communications networks.
Learn More📶New FCC Rules Expand 6 GHz Band for Unlicensed Device Use
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) expands unlicensed very low power (VLP) device operation to the entire 6 gigahertz (GHz) band (5.925-7.125 megahertz (MHz)). The VLP devices will operate with the same power levels and other technical and operational requirements that apply to VLP devices in the U-NII-5 (5.925-6.425 MHz) and U-NII-7(6.525-6.875 MHz) portions of the 6 GHz band. These technical and operational requirements are designed to prevent the licensed services that operate in the 6 GHz band from experiencing harmful interference. The Commission's actions will provide additional spectrum for high-throughput, low latency operations for these versatile portable devices.
Learn More♿FCC Regulation on Accessibility of Video Programming and Captioning
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, an information collection associated with implementing the requirement that manufacturers of covered apparatus and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) make closed captioning display settings readily accessible to individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing, adopted by the Commission on July 18, 2024, in the Accessibility of User Interfaces, and Video Programming Guides and Menus Third Report and Order (Order). This document is consistent with the Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the compliance date of the "readily accessible" rule and revise the rule accordingly.
Learn More📡New Disaster Reporting Requirements from FCC for Telecommunication Providers
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the information collection associated with the rule adopted in a Second Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Resilient Networks Second Report and Order) requiring cable communications, wireless, wireline, and interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers to report their infrastructure status information in the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) daily when the Commission activates DIRS in geographic areas in which they provide service, even when their reportable infrastructure has not changed compared to the prior day. It also codifies, in the Commission's outage reporting rules, that a subject provider's Networks Outage Reporting System reporting obligations are waived while they report in DIRS and requires that subject providers who report in DIRS provide a single, final DIRS report to the Commission, within 24 hours of the Commission's deactivation of DIRS, that provides the status of their infrastructure identified to the Commission during the DIRS reporting period that has not yet been fully restored at the time of the deactivation. This document is consistent with the Resilient Networks Second Report and Order, which states the Commission will publish a document in the Federal Register announcing a compliance date for the rule section and revise the rule accordingly.
Learn More🚁New FCC Spectrum Rules for Uncrewed Aircraft Systems
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) enables Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) operators to access dedicated spectrum for control-related communications. Specifically, this document adopts service rules under new rule part 88 that provide operators the ability to obtain direct frequency assignments in a portion of the 5030-5091 MHz band for non-networked operation. Under these rules, one or more dynamic frequency management systems (DFMSs) will manage and coordinate access to the spectrum and enable its safe and efficient use, by providing requesting operators with temporary frequency assignments to support UAS control link communications with a level of reliability suitable for operations in controlled airspace and other safety-critical circumstances. To address concerns regarding the impact of these aeronautical operations on adjacent services, this document locates these operations, for now, in the central part of the band, with substantial separation from the bands adjacent to the 5030- 5091 MHz band.
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