FCC Streamlines Space Applications, Fines Robocaller $116 Million
The FCC voted Thursday to streamline satellite applications, provide spectrum for commercial space launches, limit robocaller access to phone numbers, and target a robocalling enterprise with a $116 million forfeiture. Commissioner-designate Anna Gomez didn’t attend the agency's open meeting, which is expected to be the last one with FCC’s current 2-2 makeup. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel declined to say what the agency’s path might be once she has a Democratic majority, “We had four members of the agency here today” and there will be “five in the not-too-distant future, so I would recommend you stay tuned,” Rosenworcel said during a news conference. The agency also approved an order updating the 5G Fund for Rural America (see 2309210035).
Rosenworcel also didn’t take up a question about preemptive GOP criticisms of the incoming Democratic majority that clouded the debate on Gomez’s confirmation (see 2309070081). “As with everything before this agency, we look at the record and follow the law,” Rosenworcel said. Asked for clarification, she responded only, “That actually gets to the heart of it.”
In his own news conference, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said he looks “forward to working with” Gomez, “I guess as soon as next week,” and said it would be a waste of resources for the FCC to pursue net neutrality policies doomed to defeat at the U.S. Supreme Court under the major questions doctrine. Carr invoked a Wednesday paper from Obama administration U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli and ex-Principal Deputy Solicitor General Ian Gershengorn that urges the FCC not to bring back net neutrality rules akin to its rescinded 2015 order (see 2206300066). NCTA and USTelecom funded the study, but the authors said the views expressed are their own. Free State Foundation President Randolph May also opposed Title II-based rules in a Thursday Washington Examiner opinion piece.
The FCC “has vital priorities that we need to prioritize and we need to make progress on,” including on spectrum and broadband policy, “that take a lot of effort and bandwidth,” Carr said. “If this agency … heads down this path” of Title II-based net neutrality rules, “we will take all of those priorities and we won’t simply put them on the back burner. In many cases, we are just simply going to knock them off the stove entirely.”
The FCC unanimously approved two space industry orders Thursday: a Space Bureau order and further NPRM on streamlining the processing of satellite and earth station applications, and a second order on spectrum for commercial space launches that was added last week to Thursday’s agenda. The orders are a response to a rapid increase in the number of applications and launches in recent years, said several FCC officials Thursday. The U.S. had nine commercial space launches in 2015, and 79 last year, said Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Engineer Ron Repasi. “We have applications for more than 56,000 satellites pending before the FCC,” said Rosenworcel. “That is twice the number of applications we had just four years ago.” The old processes are "no match for the new cadence of a frothy commercial space industry," said Commissioner Geoffrey Starks.
The satellite application order creates time frames for placing space and earth station applications on notice to receive public comment, permits applicants to apply for authority to operate in frequencies in bands where there aren’t already international allocations for satellite services, and allows non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) licensees to have more than one unbuilt system without having their applications dismissed. It also streamlines processing of earth station requests to add additional points of communication, said an FCC news release. The rules “lay the groundwork for the Space Bureau’s new Transparency Initiative,” which will provide information to potential applicants for space and earth stations, the release said. The item also includes a Further NPRM on proposals for eliminating requirements for a hard copy of licenses and for creating a process analogous to special temporary authority for non-U.S. licensed space stations. The FNPRM also seeks comment on proposals for a shot clock for action on applications, a change from the draft version pushed for by Commissioners Nathan Simington and Starks.
The order on commercial space launches adopts a new allocation in the 2025 to 2110 MHz band “for ground-to launch vehicle telecommand uses necessary to support space launch operations,” the FCC said in a news release. Since the item was added to the agenda late, no draft version was released before Thursday’s meeting. The order makes the 2200-2290 MHz band available for launch telemetry and establishes a nonexclusive nationwide licensing framework. “Establishing this spectrum allocation and licensing framework will provide regulatory certainty and improved efficiency for these operations while protecting federal incumbents that also use the spectrum,” said the FCC release. An accompanying further notice seeks comment on allocating additional spectrum bands to support commercial launches and extending the licensing framework to “payload activities and sub-orbital operations,” the release said.
Carr praised the combination of facilitating applications and providing spectrum to the same industry. “We want to make sure that we always have the back of America’s space entrepreneurs and that we’re not holding them back,” said Carr. Simington said he hopes reducing the U.S.’ overlong application process will discourage companies from taking their satellite applications to other countries. Rosenworcel noted advances in satellite communications that saved lives in the recent Maui wildfires. “When we talk about the benefits of space-based innovation, it is easy to crow about the value of United States leadership and the value of growing the more than half-a-trillion dollar space economy. But it is important to remember that if we do this right, we are unlocking advances that have the power to make us safer in crisis and stronger in day-to-day life.” She also praised the work of FCC staff on those fires and Hurricane Idalia.
Scott Harris, NTIA senior spectrum adviser, highlighted the space launch item during the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee's meeting Thursday (see 2309210043). The FCC was “able to make more spectrum available for commercial space launches while protecting federal space launches,” he said: “The commission has demonstrated again today that it’s possible to meet the needs of the private sector and the public sector.”
The commissioners approved an order and FNPRM strengthening rules on direct numbering access authorization following a 2015 effort to improve number utilization (see 2309200050). The order will require interconnected VoIP providers seeking direct access to submit robocall compliance certifications and disclose ownership information. The FNPRM seeks comment on requiring existing authorization holders to submit the same certifications and disclosures, and requiring new interconnected VoIP applicants to disclose the states where they plan to provide initial service. "I always love when there is an anti-robocall hook to any item," Carr said in support of the item. Rosenworcel noted the new steps will "make sure we do not hand out numbers to perpetrators of illegal robocalls" and "make life harder for those who want to send us those junk calls."
Also, the commission imposed a $116 million fine against Thomas Dorsher, Charitel, Ontel and ScammerBlaster for Telephone Consumer Protection Act violations. The scheme included millions of prerecorded robocalls to "generate credits to fund telephony denial of service" attacks, said Enforcement Bureau Chief Loyaan Egal. Nearly 10 million prerecorded calls were made to toll-free numbers "without prior express consent or an emergency purpose," per a news release. The bureau "carefully considered" Dorsher's arguments raised in his contesting of liability and "remains steadfast in its determinations," Egal said. Rosenworcel repeated her call for the FCC to have the authority to go to court to collect fines and fix its definition of an autodialer.