FCC Open Meeting Recap: March 2023 Part 1

Kelley Drye Full Spectrum

On today’s episode of the Full Spectrum podcast, attorneys from Kelley Drye’s Communications practice highlight items from the FCC’s March 16th Open Meeting. First, partner Hank Kelly discusses (0:00:58) the FCC’s adoption of a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that addresses a gap in the STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication regime, expands robocall mitigation requirements for all providers, adopts more robust enforcement tools, and seeks comment on additional steps to further enhance the effectiveness of the STIR/SHAKEN framework. Hank Kelly also addresses (0:09:33) the FCC’s adoption of a Report and Order requiring providers to block texts purporting to be from numbers on a reasonable Do-Not-Originate list and requiring a single point of contact for text message blocking complaints, as well as its request for comments on additional proposals to require further blocking of illegal robotexts, expand Do-Not-Call protections to robotexts, and protect consumers from getting robotexts and robocalls from multiple, unexpected callers when they provide their consent on websites for comparison shopping. Second, special counsel Mike Dover will cover (0:16:35) the FCC’s issuance of a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking which proposes to expand audio description requirements to additional market areas to ensure that a greater number of individuals who are blind or visually impaired can be connected, informed, and entertained by television programming. In addition, in the next episode of the Full Spectrum podcast, partner Chip Yorkgitis will cover the FCC’s initiation of a rulemaking in the March Open Meeting to consider establishing an innovative regulatory framework to facilitate the integration of satellite and terrestrial networks and technologies in select flexible-use spectrum bands meeting proposed criteria (between 600 and 2360 MHz) to serve commercial mobile end-user devices, what the FCC calls Supplemental Coverage from Space (“SCS”). This initiative builds on experience obtained from the grant in recent years of several ad hoc experimental licenses and other authorizations which have demonstrated the potential for interoperability between satellite and mobile services. The implementation of SCS would require several changes to the table of frequency allocations, and leverage existing spectrum lease, earth stations in motion, and other rule sets, with appropriate modifications. Chip will also address the FCC’s recent adoption of a Report and Order (prior to the Open Meeting) to bring up to date the Commission’s equipment authorization framework. Specifically, the Commission incorporated into Parts 2 and 15 of its regulations four standards established in recent years by standards-setting bodies that cover higher frequency bands, better accommodate testing of larger unintentional radiators, and otherwise update current measurement methods recognized by the rules.