Continuing on its goal of improving security, the FCC proposed rules that would require periodic national security reviews of carriers that seek to offer international services originating and terminating in this country. Those telecoms with existing authorizations would file renewal applications at the Commission every 10 years. The changes are meant to enable up-to-date review of international Section 214 authorizations to take into account rapidly changing national security, law enforcement, and other considerations.
To stay ahead of evolving threats, the FCC proposed a framework allowing a review of foreign-owned authorization holders as part of a renewal process. The agency would act in concert with national security, law enforcement, and other colleagues in the Executive Branch.
“Today there is nothing in our rules that requires the Commission to generally reassess a foreign carrier’s authorization to provide service,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “This is in stark contrast to most other authorizations granted by the agency that must be considered on a periodic basis.”
During the vote, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said, “Four years ago the FCC took the unprecedented step of blocking a wireless carrier owned and controlled by the communist regime in China from access to our networks.” He said that action was “justified by the record and by the evolving Chinese efforts to use entities to surveil persons within our borders on intellectual property and engage in other nefarious acts.”
Carr said at other times, the agency has issued those authorizations “that could stay for a long time, notwithstanding the fact that a lot can change in international relations, geopolitics during that time.”
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks agreed the change is needed, noting “Our seas are crisscrossed with subsea cables sharing data and information among nations throughout the world. Many offer service across our borders with Canada and Mexico, and thousands of providers have filed for Commission approval to offer U.S.-international telecommunications services.”
The proposed rules would also reduce the ownership reporting threshold from investors with a 10 percent to a five percent stake. Days before the vote, two investment firms cautioned that lowering the threshold risks deterring investments from minority owners in U.S. telecom network infrastructure because their investments are conditional on being confidential.
Former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, now a partner in private equity firm Searchlight Capital Partners, and former FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, Managing Director and Head of Global Policy and Public Investment for DigitalBridge Group, Inc., said in an agency filing they spoke about the issue with representatives of Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Brendan Carr. So, too, did representatives of EQT Fund Management S.a.r.l., Novacap Management Inc. and Palisade Investment Partners Limited. However, the tighter ownership reporting threshold was not discussed when Commissioners unanimously voted to proceed with the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking last week.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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