At its August Open Meeting, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) unanimously adopted a Report and Order (R&O) streamlining and harmonizing its license renewal and service continuity rules for Wireless Radio Services (WRS) licensees. Among other things, the R&O: (1) establishes a consistent standard for renewing wireless licenses; (2) creates safe harbors providing expedited renewal for licensees that meet their initial term construction requirement and remain operating at or above that level; (3) adopts consistent service continuity rules, which automatically terminate any license on which a licensee permanently discontinues service or operation; (4) eliminates legacy “comparative renewal rules;” and (5) closes a loophole in the FCC’s construction rules by requiring that when portions of geographic licenses are sold, both parties to the transaction have a clear construction obligation and penalty in the event of failure. The Commission also adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) that seeks comment on a range of ideas to facilitate continued investment during the renewal terms. Comments on the FNPRM are due 30 days after, and replies are due 60 days after, the date of the FNPRM’s publication in the Federal Register, which has not yet occurred.
