No Summer Slowdown

The Federal Communications Commission is ramping up our activities this Summer season to advance our Build America Agenda. This push begins in earnest in just eight days at our July open meeting where we will consider previously announced proposals to accelerate the upgrade from old copper line networks to modern ones, to remove barriers to broadband buildout by easing access to utility poles, and to move forward with the first spectrum auction in four years. We will continue to execute on the Build America Agenda with an August lineup that will feature votes on eight (perhaps an August record?) items. Kicking it off, we will consider a proposal to curtail one of the biggest obstacles to building in America: needless and costly environmental reviews.  Specifically, under the sclerotic regulatory regime that has been grafted onto the National Environmental Protection Act or NEPA process, federal agencies spend more time on average (4.5 years) to complete pre-construction environmental impact statements than it took to build the Golden Gate Bridge. Making the smallest changes to a satellite system can require a new FCC approval.  This August, we will consider an Order to further streamline and expedite the application process for space stations and earth stations.  We will delete FCC approval requirements for a range of activities that pose no risk to the public.  Eliminating unnecessary paperwork doesn’t just improve efficiency—it kickstarts American innovation.  In particular, our reforms promise to boost an emerging business model—Ground-Station-as-a-Service—that allows multiple satellite systems to share the same ground station.  Space startups win as a result: they are spared the time and money to build their own bespoke infrastructure. The Build America Agenda also requires the FCC to focus on the unsung hero of our modern communications networks—undersea cables.  These networks of cables carry roughly 99% of global Internet traffic and will prove key to further extending America’s leadership in AI and next-generation technologies.  That is why the FCC is working to unleash the buildout of secure submarine cable infrastructure as part of our Build America Agenda.  Therefore, we will vote to streamline the submarine cable licensing process, give certainty to investors, and accelerate the timelines for building cables. Congress requires the Commission to report annually on “whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.”  Frankly, the way the Commission has produced this 706 Report in the past could be improved.  So we will vote to take a fresh approach to evaluating the deployment of advanced telecommunications.  The notice will reorient the questions posed to track more closely to the plain language of Section 706 of the Act. Our August meeting will also feature multiple proposals to support a core tenant of the Build America Agenda: public safety. We will vote to begin a ground-up re-examination of the Emergency Alert Systems (EAS). We will also vote to initiate a review of our system for collecting real-time data on network outages and restoration during and after major disasters. We’ll close our August meeting by removing unnecessary regulations and injecting common sense across the Commission’s policies—critical features to streamline the implementation of our Build America Agenda. We will expand the efforts begun under his leadership and consider a proposal to further deregulate business data services currently subject to ex ante pricing regulation.  We will also commence the first comprehensive review of this market in six years with the goal of identifying additional areas for regulatory relief. We are back at it in our In re: Delete, Delete, Delete proceeding.  This month, we will vote to eliminate 98 obsolete broadcast rules and requirements—totaling 5,117 words and a little over 12 pages—like 1970s-era regulations dictating the kind of testing equipment radio stations are required to purchase.