Telecommunication

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Thursday, July 16, 2020. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and related agency telework and headquarters access policies, this meeting will be in a wholly electronic format and will be open to the public on the Internet via live feed from the FCC’s web page and on the FCC’s YouTube channel.

Network security is national security. Today’s actions will help secure our networks against new threats from Huawei and ZTE equipment. We must not, however, lose sight of the untrustworthy equipment already in place. The Commission has taken important steps toward identifying the problematic equipment in our systems, but there is much more to do. We must prioritize our review of our recent information collection and establish an expedited plan for the removal and replacement of untrustworthy equipment.

The US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved a Windstream bankruptcy exit reorganization plan. With the restructuring plan approved, the company expects to complete its financial restructuring process and emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as a privately held company in late August. The restructured company will cut its debt by about two thirds, a total of $4 billion, and will have access to approximately $2 billion in new capital to expand 1 Gig Internet service in rural America. 

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the July Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, July 16, 2020:

The Federal Communications Commission issued its 2020 staff report on the availability and effectiveness of call blocking tools offered to consumers. Surveying data submitted by a variety of commenters, the FCC found that call blocking tools are now substantially available to consumers at no or low cost. In addition to this report, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the FCC will

Items on the Federal Communications Commission's July 2020 agenda:

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai presented his colleagues with draft rules to establish 988 as the new, nationwide, 3-digit phone number for Americans in crisis to connect with suicide prevention and mental health crisis counselors. The rules, if adopted by the FCC at its July 16 Open Meeting, would require all phone service providers to begin directing all 988 calls to the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by July 16, 2022.

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced a new rule ensuring US industry’s ability to more fully contribute to standards-development activities in the telecommunications sector. International standards serve as the critical building blocks for technological development by enabling functionality, interoperability, and safety.

The Federal Communications Commission's Office of Managing Director (OMD) announces that the proposed universal service contribution factor for the third quarter of 2020 will be 0.265 or 26.5 percent. The Federal Communications Commission calculates the quarterly contribution factor based on the ratio of total projected quarterly costs of the universal service support mechanisms to contributors’ total projected collected end-user interstate and international telecommunications revenues, net of projected contributions.

Not all international expansion of telecommunications carriers is in the United States’ national security interests. Some foreign governments seek to exploit the openness of America’s telecommunications market to advance their own national interests.