The FCC has announced the items on the agenda for its April Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 20, 2023. The meeting will be livestreamed at www.fcc.gov/live and available on the FCC’s YouTube channel. The agenda includes the following items:
Promoting Efficient Use of Spectrum and Opportunities for New Services (ET Docket No. 23-122) – The Commission will consider a Policy Statement intended to help guide Commission decision-making and stakeholder action to promote efficient co-existence between incumbent and new services. The Policy Statement promotes a balanced and comprehensive approach to spectrum management that holistically considers both transmitter and receiver components of wireless systems. (ET Docket No. 23-122)
Review of International Section 214 Authorizations to Assess Evolving Risks (IB Docket No. 23-119) – The Commission will consider an Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would take another important step to protect the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure from threats in an evolving national security and law enforcement landscape by proposing comprehensive changes to the Commission’s rules that allow carriers to provide international telecommunications service pursuant to section 214 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (Act). (IB Docket No. 23-119)
Facilitating Satellite Broadband Competition (IB Docket No. 21-456) – The Commission will consider a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would revise rules for spectrum sharing among new satellite broadband constellations. The rule revisions would clarify protection obligations between non-geostationary satellite orbit, fixed-satellite service systems to facilitate the deployment of these next generation systems, including new competitors.
Updating the Frequency Allocation Table (OET Docket Nos. 23-121 and 23-120) – The Commission will consider an Order to make updates to the International Allocation Table to reflect the International Telecommunication Union Radio Regulations (Edition of 2020) and make other non-substantive, editorial revisions. The Commission will also consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would seek comment on implementing certain of the remaining radiofrequency allocation decisions from the 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference. The NPRM would propose allocation changes and related updates to service rules.
Improving Wireless Emergency Alerts (PS Docket Nos. 15-91, 15-94) – The Commission will consider a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would increase the accessibility, performance, and functionality of Wireless Emergency Alerts, including greater accessibility for people with disabilities and through multilingual alerting.
Updating the Intercarrier Compensation Regime to Eliminate Access Arbitrage (WC Docket No. 18-155) – The Commission will consider a Second Report and Order, which would modify its Access Stimulation Rules to close a perceived loophole exploited by opportunistic access-stimulating entities to continue to inflate access charges paid by interexchange carriers. The Order would make this inefficient practice less attractive to arbitrageurs and help prevent interexchange carriers’ end-user customers from bearing costs for services they may not even use.
Removing Obsolete Analog-Era Provisions from Part 74 Rules (MB Docket No. 03-185) – The Commission will consider an Order that would amend its Part 74 rules for low-power television and television translators to remove obsolete rules for analog TV operations.
