FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel

The Federal Communications Commission’s May open meeting will be headlined by a pair of spectrum policy changes to both pave the way for future wireless technologies and also unlock new wireless services right now. Here’s everything we have lined up for our May open meeting:

We are gathered at this summit because someday soon someone will make the very first 6G connection. And we need to prepare now for the wireless world it will bring. Much like in the early days of 5G, the scrum for 6G is already intensifying.

The Federal Communications Commission is working to ensure that all areas of the United States can access high-speed, high-quality broadband, through a revision of the Alternative Connect America Model (A-CAM) program. The program is meant to provide additional universal service support to certain rural carriers in exchange for increasing deployment to more locations at higher speeds.

On April 18, 2023, Federal Communications Commission leadership wrote to Congressional leadership to restore the Commission's spectrum action authority. The FCC's auction authority expired for the first time in the program’s 30-year history on March 9, 2023.

I agree that the Federal Communications Commission should be doing everything it can to speed the deployment of broadband to all areas of the country and that ensuring there is a transparent, fair, and fast pole attachment process that considers the needs of pole owners and attachers is a key part of that effort.

In 2022, in recognition of National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, I wrote to share my thoughts on the importance of the dedicated professionals who respond to calls to our nationwide emergency number—911. This year, as we mark National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, I am again writing to reiterate my support for the reclassification of public safety telecommunicators as first responders. As I noted last year, 911 operators are among our most essential first responders.

On December 20, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Data Mapping to Save Moms’ Lives Act. This Act directs the Federal Communications Commission to incorporate, in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), publicly available data on maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity into its Mapping Broadband Health in America platform by June 18, 2023.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel responded to a letter from a group of senators regarding the risks of foreign-managed service providers to US telecommunications networks. In her response, Roenworcel stated that she has made network security a top priority and is working with the Senator to ensure that the US assesses the risks posed by service providers outsourcing the administration of their networks to foreign entities.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel delivered remarks on April 6th, 2023, about the state of communications infrastructure in Indian Country to the 2023 Reservation Economic Summit. "I believe affordable broadband access is a prerequisite for full participation in our society and economy." This statement made by Rosenworcel in her speech highlights the importance of universal broadband access. Rosenworcel discusses the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has brought attention to the digital divide affecting low-income families and rural communities.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel responded to a letter from a group of senators regarding broadband consumer labels and pricing transparency. Specifically, Sens Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) urged the FCC to independently collect pricing data as the Commission fulfills its requirement of providing internet service provider (ISP) broadband consumer labels. In her response, Chairwoman Rosenworcel highlighted two actions taken by the Commission in late 2022.