FCC EB Agents Mostly Working From Home, FCBA Told

FCC Enforcement Bureau field agents continue to do most work remotely, Chief Rosemary Harold told an FCBA webinar Friday. “We’re only letting folks go out for public safety-related reasons”, which “puts a bit of a crimp in our style,” she said. As more get vaccinated, agents will return to the field but maybe not “any time soon,” she said. Harold said she has visited the new headquarters, and some employees who retired will have to return to pick up what they left behind. “The field has been under very stringent travel restrictions,” said Axel Rodriguez, EB field director. “We wanted to make sure we weren’t putting the agents in any undue risk,” he said: “We wanted to make sure if they were going to leave their homes, it was for something essential only.” Exceptions are for interference to FAA air traffic control, GPS, and Coast Guard channel 16, the international marine distress frequency, he said. Field agents were involved in the presidential inauguration and hurricane response efforts, Rodriguez said. Agents resolve complaints from home and without sending out a truck, using remote monitoring equipment, he said. “We have started to see some of the reins loosened up” as agents are vaccinated, he said. The pandemic has shown people can get work done without being in the office and “there will be negotiations to come about working from home,” Harold said: “We have proven that we can make it work, for the most part.” The bureau has been “quite busy” since acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel took the helm, Harris said. Rosenworcel “has been particularly interested … in going after robocalls,” the EB chief said: That includes investigative cases and “coming up with other ways to help carriers, or alert carriers, to what they can do. With the help of the industry we are watching some traffic flows and have questions.” Carriers bringing in large amounts of traffic from outside the U.S. “may want to look at what they’re doing, because we may have more questions for them,” she said.