Federal Communications Commission

FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel Responds to Lawmakers Regarding the Spectrum Auction Program

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel responded to letters by members of Congress inquiring about the FCC's spectrum auction program. In separate letters to House Representatives and Senators, Rosenworcel responded to questions about related topics including upcoming spectrum auctions, specific frequencies that may be good candidates for auction, and policy changes the agency can make to improve the program.

Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s Response to Members of Congress Regarding COVID-19 Telehealth Program

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel responded to House lawmakers' letter concerning the second funding round of the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. The lawmakers had requested that the funding beprioritized in rural areas. In her response, Chairwoman Rosenworcel detailed the metrics the FCC used to evaluate second round applications for the program.

Rural Digital Fund Authorizes Eighth Round of Winning Bids

The Federal Communications Commission authorized Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (Auction 904) support for 1,345 winning bids in its eighth round of awards. The RDOF program is designed to provide funding to companies to cover some of the costs of making broadband available to rural areas currently lacking high-speed service. Winning bidders were determined through a reverse auction that awarded funding for an area to the company that committed to deploying service for the lowest level of support, with a weighting system favoring bids for higher-speed, lower-latency service.

Broadband Access to Multiple Tenant Environments Compliance Guide

In this Report and Order, the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules to promote competitive choice of communications services for those living and working in multiple tenant environments (MTEs), and to address practices that undermine longstanding rules promoting competition in

Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s Response to Rep. Matsui and Rep. Guthrie Regarding Updates to Satellite Rules

On March 14, Reps Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Brett Guthrie (R-KY) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel about updating the FCC's satellite rules. Chairwoman Rosenworcel replied on March 30 saying the FCC is updating its satellite rules to better support a more vibrant satellite ecosystem.

FCC Commissioner Carr Welcomes Michael Nemcik as Acting Legal Advisor

Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr announced that Michael Nemcik has joined his office as Acting Legal Advisor, having previously served the office as an intern in 2019. Michael will be standing in for Danielle Thumann, Commissioner Carr’s Legal Advisor since March 2021, while she is on maternity leave. Michael joins Commissioner Carr’s office from the Wireline Competition Bureau’s Competition Policy Division where he focuses on various robocall mitigation and numbering issues.

Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s Response to Members of Congress Regarding the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Rosenworcel sent letters to seven senators on April 8, 2022 in response to their letter regarding the review process for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Responds to Lawmakers Regarding Potential Changes to the E-Rate Program

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Rosenworcel sent letters to four House members on April 7, 2022, to respond to their letter on proposed changes to the E-rate competitive bidding process. Rosenworcel said the FCC has begun a rulemaking to consider improvements to the competitive bidding process. She also said funding has been made available to support students’ off-campus learning needs through the Emergency Connectivity Fund and the Emergency Broadband Benefit programs.

FCC Addresses Service Providers' Petitions for Waiver of Affordable Connectivity Program Rules

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau addresses the petitions of USTelecom – The Broadband Association, Verizon, AT&T, and Competitive Carriers Association (CCA). The FCC granted limited waivers of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) rules concerning the requirement that a participating provider allow an eligible household to apply the affordable connectivity benefit to any residential service plan selected by the eligible household (the “all plans requirement”) and non-usage of ACP supported services for which the subscriber does not pay a fee.

Access to Preliminary Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric

The Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Task Force, Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB), and Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA) announce that fixed broadband service providers may now access a preliminary version of the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric (Fabric) to assist them in preparing their broadband availability data for the Broadband Data Collection (BDC). This preliminary version of the Fabric will help fixed service providers with developing processes to prepare their availability data submissions.

Dish Urges FCC to Reconsider SpaceX's RDOF Funding

On April 12, Dish Network sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Secretary Marlene Dortch urging the Commission to reconsider its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) award to SpaceX's Starlink. Dish said, "SpaceX cannot credibly claim that it will be able to fulfill its obligations under the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction rules." The company included four studies in the letter that it states show SpaceX would violate the conditions for using the 12 GHz band for RDOF.

Federal Communications Commission Equity Action Plan

The Federal Communications Commission published its Equity Action Plan. This Action Plan focuses on concrete actions that the FCC is taking so that people across the country can count on and obtain access to the modern communications they need for work, learning, healthcare, and access to the information they require to make decisions about their lives, their communities, and their country.

FCC Announces April 21, 2022 Open Meeting Agenda

The Federal Communications Commission announced the agenda for its upcoming Open Commission Meeting on April 21, 2022. The following items are on the agenda:

Chairwoman Rosenworcel Convenes Principals Meeting Of Federal Interagency Cybersecurity Forum

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel convened the first principals-level meeting of the recently relaunched Cybersecurity Forum for Independent and Executive Branch Regulators. The Forum consists of regulatory agencies with oversight across all sectors of the US economy.

Connect America Fund Phase II Auction Deployment Data

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau, in conjunction with the FCC's Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force, announced that the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), has posted the total locations deployed to by Connect America Fund Phase II (CAF II) Auction support recipients, reflecting deployment as of December 31, 2021.

FCC Commissioner Starks Announces Staff Changes

Federal Communications Commissioner Geoffrey Starks announced the following staff changes:

FCC Settles Rural Health Care Program Rule Violations with Windstream

The Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau achieved a settlement with Windstream Communications to resolve its investigation into the company’s practices for determining rural rates and retention of Rural Health Care Program (RHC) documents. To resolve this matter, Windstream will pay a settlement amount of $1,204,445.24, which includes a $200,000 civil penalty, and implement enhanced compliance measures in connection with its participation in the RHC Program.

FCC Announces $13.4 Million Settlement with Major Lifeline Provider

The Federal Communications Commission announced that the FCC and Department of Justice (DOJ) have reached a $13.4 million settlement with TracFone Wireless in connection with violations of FCC Lifeline program rules. Specifically, the settlement resolves allegations that TracFone violated the False Claims Act by signing up more than 175,000 ineligible customers for the Lifeline program during 2012-2015 and that the false claims resulted from TracFone’s lax oversight and monitoring of its Lifeline program.

FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel Announces Staff Changes

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced additions to her leadership team. As of mid-April, Narda Jones will return to the FCC and assume the role of Chief of Staff. Priscilla Delgado Argeris will now serve as Chief Legal Advisor.

FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System Undergoes Initial Upgrades

The Federal Communications Commission announced that its Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) has undergone a system upgrade which will help enable expanded features and functions to be introduced into ECFS in the coming year. The update transitions ECFS to a cloud-based platform, which will make the system scalable and more agile. In addition, reCAPTCHA functionality has been added to the system. This first phase of the multi-phase ECFS upgrade effort will enable development of new functions that take advantage of the upgraded technology platform.