Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission granted the applications SpaceX Services to operate consumer and enterprise Ku-band Earth Stations in Motion (ESIM) and the application of Kepler Communications to operate unlimited Ku-band Earth Stations on Vessels (ESVs) in the territorial waters of the United States and aboard US-registered vessels throughout international waters worldwide. Both SpaceX and Kepler propose to use the 14.0-14.5 GHz band to transmit (Earth-to-space), and the 10.7-12.7 GHz band, including 12.2-12.7 GHz (generally known as the 12 GHz band), to receive (space-to-Earth).

The Broadband Data Task Force announced the opening of the inaugural Broadband Data Collection (BDC) filing window. Facilities-based broadband service providers may begin to file in the BDC system data that reflects where they make mass-market internet access service available as of June 30, 2022. Such data must be filed no later than September 1, 2022.

The Federal Communications Commission announced it is committing nearly $159 million in two new funding rounds through the Emergency Connectivity Program, helping to close the Homework Gap. The funding supports applications from all three of the program’s application windows, supporting over 300,000 students across the country, including in Alabama, Guam, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Texas, and West Virginia. Nearly $2 million from the first and second application windows will provide support in the upcoming school year for approximately 15 schools and 4 libraries.

The Federal Communications Commission modified the cost recovery rules for funding two forms of Internet-based telecommunications relay services (TRS)—video relay service (VRS) and Internet Protocol Relay Service (IP Relay). The FCC expanded the Interstate TRS Fund contribution base for support of those services to include intrastate as well as interstate end-user revenues of TRS Fund contributors, ensuring fair treatment of intrastate and interstate communications services and users in the funding of relay services.

"It is a tremendously exciting time to be a broadband advocate," said Federal Communications Commissioner Geoffrey Starks at Ericsson's 2022 Broadband For All Summit. "Accelerated by the pandemic, the world’s digital

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Crosby Kemper, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly promote public awareness of federal funding opportunities for broadband. Through this MOU, the FCC and IMLS will focus on communities where broadband access is particularly challenging, such as rural areas and Tribal lands. The joint effort will include commitments to:

The Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Task Force (Task Force), Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB), and Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA) announce that the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric (Fabric) that will be used for the inaugural Broadband Data Collection (BDC) is now available for broadband service providers and governmental entities to access. Broadband availability data as of June 30, 2022 can be submitted in the BDC beginning on June 30, 2022, and initial filings are due no later than September 1, 2022.