At the Federal Communication Commission’s (“FCC”) June 8 Open Meeting, the Commissioners voted to adopt a new Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“Notice”) designed to clarify and expand upon the ability of consumers to decide...more
Prompted by a rapid increase in frequency, sophistication, and scale of data leaks and data breach legislation in recent years, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unanimously voted to kick off a proceeding aimed at...more
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) restricts many types of calls to residential and wireless telephone numbers if they are made without the prior express consent of the called party or a statutory exemption...more
For those regularly monitoring the FCC’s various TCPA dockets, you now have a new docket to follow: CG Docket No. 21-402. The FCC announced on September 27, 2022 that all Commissioners had voted to commence a new robotext...more
Reacting quickly to a joint request by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) (collectively, the Health Agencies) last Thursday, the FCC released a Public...more
5/5/2022
/ Auto-Dialed Calls ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Comment Period ,
Consent ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
FCC ,
Medicaid ,
Public Comment ,
Public Notice ,
Robocalling ,
Sovereign Immunity ,
TCPA ,
Text Messages
Spectrum management in the United States is a hydra-headed challenge — there are technical, policy, political and financial dimensions to the ongoing process of identifying spectrum bands where spectrum can be reallocated or...more
The FCC’s TCPA dockets did not witness many developments from the beginning of 2022 until February. However, beginning in February and into March, Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s office and the Enforcement Bureau were busy...more
Over the last several years, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been taking a more active role both in anticipating the need for ever greater communications network security measures necessary to counter threats...more
3/7/2022
/ Comment Period ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Management ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
FCC ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
NIST ,
Notice of Inquiry ,
Popular ,
Wireless Industry ,
Wireless Technology
After years of discussion and planning, the FCC’s Reassigned Numbers Database opened for commercial use on November 1, 2021. Now business callers can register for a paid subscription with the FCC’s designated Administrator,...more
During his presidential campaign, President Biden committed “to build back better in rural America” by “expand[ing] broadband, or wireless broadband via 5G, to every American.” Last month, President Biden renewed his focus on...more
10/8/2021
/ 5G Network ,
Biden Administration ,
Broadband ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Executive Orders ,
FCC ,
National Security ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Telecommunications ,
Wireless Industry ,
Wireless Technology
The FCC recently announced a public comment period for a new Petition for Declaratory Ruling that seeks to have the FCC “clarify that delivery of a voice message directly to a voicemail box through ringless voicemail (RVM)...more
After adopting orders reflecting the majority of implementation deadlines set by the TRACED Act and the Supreme Court’s highly anticipated TCPA decision interpreting the statutory definition of automatic telephone dialing...more
The TRACED Act’s December 30, 2020 deadline was not the end of the FCC’s recent series of actions to bring more clarity to certain forms of TCPA exemptions. Most recently, on January 15, 2021, the FCC issued a Declaratory...more
Some welcome the New Year with new goals and new plans while others – the FCC, in particular, welcomes the New Year by wrapping up TCPA rulemakings and issuing other rulings. As expected, a number of TRACED Act items were...more
The FCC in 2016 determined that the federal government was not a “person” subject to the TCPA, and that by extension, federal contractors working within the scope of their delegated authority were also not bound by TCPA...more
Over the years, one of the biggest challenges many businesses face when assessing TCPA risks posed by a new calling or texting campaign has been determining whether the proposed use case can defensibly rely on one of the...more
As we previewed recently, the FCC adopted a set of rule amendments through a Third Report and Order for its “call blocking by default” framework on July 16, 2020. These rules focus on two safe harbors potentially shielding...more
The FCC recently reported a decrease of approximately 60% of consumer robocall complaints and a drop of approximately 30% in volume of “unwanted robocalls” that were placed in the first half of 2020 as compared to the first...more
Each day that passes seems to bring with it ever more rapid and significant changes to the U.S. relationship with China. As detailed in a Faegre Drinker client alert last month, on May 27, 2020, the State Department certified...more
The FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau last week issued a declaratory ruling resolving a long-pending Petition on the question of whether certain healthcare-related calls, given their significance and value for...more
On April 20, 2020, commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously to approve a long pending and controversial application by Ligado Networks to repurpose parts of the L-band (1-2 GHz) to...more
A federal interagency group commonly referred to as “Team Telecom” has been operating largely behind the scenes for years, advising the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on the FCC’s review of the national security...more
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides $200 million for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to support health care providers (HCP) in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On April 2, 2020,...more
On March 12, 2020, the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act entered into force. This legislation is expected to make permanent the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC’s) ban on the use of Universal Service Fund...more
Acknowledging that “effective communications with the American public” are “a critical component” of efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released, on its own motion, a...more