Public Notice

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) and the Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA) announce the availability, under the terms of the 2023 IPCS Protective Order, of the preliminary Incarcerated People’s Communications Services (IPCS) Database (2023 IPCS Database). The FCC staff developed this database to help analyze data and other information that IPCS providers submitted in response to the Commission’s 2023 Mandatory Data Collection.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) partially waived, on one's own behalf, the requirement that a bank issuing a letter of credit (LOC) to a support recipient for either the Connect America Fund Phase II Auction (Auction 903) or the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction (Auction 904) maintain a Weiss bank safety rating of B- or better.  This limited waiver only applies to banks that previously issued LOCs to Auction 903 or 904 support recipients, and therefore previously had a Weiss bank safety rating of B- or better.

The Federal Communications Commission's mission is to “make available, so far as possible, to all the people of the United States, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, rapid, efficient, Nation-wide, and world-wide wire and radio communication service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges.” The FCC’s vision is to pursue policies to bring affordable, reliable high-speed broadband to 100 percent of the country and encourage the private sector to build, maintain, and upgrade nextgeneration networks so that the benefits of advanced commu

In this Order and Authorization, we grant in part, with conditions, and defer in part the amended application of Space Exploration Holdings, LLC (SpaceX) to construct, deploy, and operate a constellation of non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellites, to be known as its “secondgeneration” Starlink constellation (Gen2 Starlink), to provide fixed-satellite service (FSS). Specifically, our grant here is limited to authorizing SpaceX to conduct communications in the 71.0-76.0 GHz (spaceto-Earth) and 81.0-86.0 GHz (Earth-to-space) frequency bands (collectively, E-band), with the 7,500 Gen2 Starlin

In this Order and Authorization (Order), the Federal Communications Commission's Space Bureau grants Kuiper Systems LLC’s (Kuiper) application for modification of the license for its constellation of non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellites. Kuiper plans to use frequencies allocated to the fixed-satellite service (FSS) and mobile-satellite service (MSS) in the Ka-band.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the new members of the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee.  This advisory panel provides guidance, expertise, and recommendations to the FCC on telecommunications issues affecting local, county, state and Tribal governments.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) announced the E-Rate and Rural Health Care (RHC) programs’ annual caps for funding year 2024. The adjusted amounts represent a 3.6% inflation-adjusted increase to both programs’ funding year 2023 annual caps. The E-Rate program funding cap for funding year 2024 is $4,940,076,139. The RHC program funding cap for funding year 2024 is $706,926,603.

California's Broadband Loan Loss Reserve Fund is a $500 million fund that provides a credit enhancement related to the financing of local broadband infrastructure development. The reserve fund expands the ability of local governments, tribes and non-profits to secure financing for building last-mile projects, with an emphasis on public broadband networks. The Fund will provide collateral to local governments to enable more favorable borrowing rates and terms for bonds issued to deploy broadband infrastructure. The Fund was established in 2021. The benefits of the Fund include:

The Federal Communications Commission formally notified Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) providers that, due to a lack of additional funding from Congress, the agency will only be able to fully fund the program through the month of April. The Public Notice also (1) provides guidance on the May 2024 partial reimbursement month; (2) reminds participating providers of the notices they must send to ACP households; and (3) provides guidance on the consumer protections for ACP households during wind-down and after the ACP ends.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has accepted Idaho’s Digital Equity Plan. Using $564,706 from the State Digital Equity Planning Grant Program, Idaho created a plan aimed at addressing disparities in digital access, skills and affordability across the state. States are continuing to submit their plans for NTIA’s acceptance, and NTIA will accept plans on a rolling basis.