The Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) has published the tentative agenda for its March 2021 Open Meeting. The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 17, 2021, at 10:30 a.m. EDT and will be livestreamed at www.fcc.gov/live and available on the FCC’s YouTube channel. The agenda includes the following items:
Promoting Public Safety Through Information Sharing (PS Docket No. 15-80) – The Commission will consider a Second Report and Order that would provide state and federal agencies with direct, read-only access to communications outage data for public safety purposes while also preserving the confidentiality of that data.
Improving the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts (PS Docket Nos. 15-94, 15-91) – The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry to implement section 9201 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which is intended to improve the way the public receives emergency alerts on their mobile phones, televisions, and radios.
Facilitating Shared Use in the 3.45 GHz Band (WT Docket No. 19-348) – The Commission will consider a Second Report and Order that would establish rules to create a new 3.45 GHz Service operating between 3.45-3.55 GHz, making 100 megahertz of mid-band spectrum available for flexible use throughout the contiguous United States.
Auction of Flexible-Use Service Licenses in the 3.45-3.55 GHz Band (AU Docket No. 21-62) – The Commission will consider a Public Notice that would establish application and bidding procedures for Auction 110, the auction of flexible use licenses in the 3.45-3.55 GHz band.
Promoting the Deployment of 5G Open Radio Access Networks (GN Docket No. 21-63) – The Commission will consider a Notice of Inquiry seeking comment on the current status of Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN) and virtualized network environments, including potential obstacles to their development and deployment, and whether and how deployment of Open RAN-compliant networks could further the Commission’s policy goals and statutory obligations.
The Commission will also consider two national security matters and an enforcement action.
