The FCC announced the items on its tentative agenda for the monthly Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, March 16:

• Single Network Future: Supplemental Coverage from Space – An NPRM that would propose a new regulatory framework for supplemental coverage from space. Through this proposed framework, satellite operators collaborating with terrestrial providers would be able to operate space stations on currently licensed, flexible-use spectrum to expand coverage to the terrestrial provider’s subscribers.

• Ensuring Just and Reasonable Rates for Incarcerated People – An NPRM and Order, which would begin the FCC's implementation of the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022. The NPRM seeks comment on how the FCC should interpret that Act’s language to ensure just and reasonable rates and charges for incarcerated people’s audio and video communications services. The Order will delegate authority to the Wireline Competition Bureau and the Office of Economics and Analytics to update and restructure their most recent data collection as appropriate to fulfill the requirements of the new statute.

• Enhancing Protections Against Illegal Robocalls – A Report and Order and FNPRM that would close a critical gap in the STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication regime, expand robocall mitigation requirements for all providers, adopt more robust enforcement tools, and seek comment on additional steps to further enhance the effectiveness of the STIR/SHAKEN framework.

• Protecting Consumers with Robotext Blocking – A Report and Order that would require that providers block texts purporting to be from numbers on a reasonable Do-Not-Originate list; and make available a single point of contact for text message blocking complaints.The FCC will also consider an FNPRM that would propose to require further blocking of illegal robotexts; expand Do-Not-Call protections to robotexts; and protect consumers from getting robotexts and robocalls from multiple, unexpected callers when they provide their consent on websites for comparison shopping.

• Updating Equipment Testing Standards – A Report and Order that would incorporate standards that are to be used in the testing of equipment to ensure compliance with FCC rules. Two are updates to existing standards and two are new standards that would allow in addition to standards referenced in our existing rules.

• Audio Description DMA Expansion – An FNPRM that would propose to expand support for individuals who are blind or visually impaired by expanding audio description requirements to additional market areas. The proposal would help ensure that a greater number of individuals who are blind or visually impaired can be connected, informed, and entertained by television programming.

In February 2022, NTIA announced several Broadband Infrastructure Program (BIP) awards - the first of many Internet For All grants to be awarded throughout the next 12 months.

Join NTIA leadership and BIP program staff on Wednesday, March 1, at 3 p.m. ET for their BIP 1-year anniversary celebration to recognize the work of the fourteen grantees and highlight program milestones.

Register here to watch this webinar. 

On February 21, 2023, the Capital Projects Fund announced the award of approximately $355 million to Arizona, Tennessee, and Wyoming to increase access to affordable, reliable high-speed internet to over 189,000 homes and businesses.

The state plans approved in this group of awards will support broadband infrastructure designed, upon project completion, to deliver reliable internet service that meets or exceeds symmetrical download and upload speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps), speeds that are needed for a household with multiple users to simultaneously access the internet to telework and access education and health monitoring.

• Arizona CPF Award Fact Sheet
• Tennessee CPF Award Fact Sheet
• Wyoming CPF Award Fact Sheet 

Treasury began announcing state awards last June. To date, the Capital Projects Fund has awarded nearly $4.8 billion to states that will be invested in high-speed internet infrastructure estimated to reach over 1.4 million homes and businesses.

The House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) introduced H.R. 1108, that if passed, would amend the Communications Act of 1934 to extend the authority of the FCC to use competitive bidding for spectrum licenses through May 19.

The FCC’s general authority was set to expire September 30, 2022, under the last long-term authorization and was extended four times since then by stopgap spending laws and the fiscal 2023 omnibus appropriations package (Public Law 117-328), which set the current March 9 expiration.