Public Notice

Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Support Authorized for 830 Winning Bids

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau, in conjunction with the Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force and the Office of Economics and Analytics, authorizes Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (Auction 904) support for another 830 winning bids. For each of the winning bids, the FCC has reviewed the long-form application information, including the letter(s) of credit and Bankruptcy Code opinion letter(s) from the long-form applicant’s legal counsel.

Biden-⁠Harris Administration Releases Permitting Action Plan to Accelerate and Deliver Infrastructure Projects On Time, On Task, and On Budget

To ensure the timely and sound delivery of much-needed upgrades to America’s infrastructure, the Biden-Harris Administration released an Action Plan to strengthen and accelerate Federal permitting and environmental reviews, fully leveraging the permitting provisions in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The plan establishes that Federal environmental review and permitting processes will be:

Recommendation Regarding Consumer Broadband Labels

The FCC Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC) was asked to build on the CAC’s extensive work in 2015/2016 on consumer broadband disclosures and develop recommendations on how the Federal Communications Commission should define “Point of Sale” for purposes of the label requirement and does the type or form of disclosure vary depending upon the nature of the consumer’s interaction with the service provider, e.g., in-store face-to-face with a sales representative, over the phone, on the web, at kiosks, etc.

Declaration for the Future of the Internet

A political commitment by the United States and 60 partners from around the globe to advance a positive vision for the Internet and digital technologies. It reclaims the promise of the Internet in the face of the global opportunities and challenges presented by the 21st century. It also reaffirms and recommits its partners to a single global Internet—one that is truly open and fosters competition, privacy, and respect for human rights. The Declaration’s principles include commitments to:

  • Protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people;

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—Application for Broadband Grant Programs

The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) requests emergency review and approval of the emergency collection to ensure that the agency can meet the statutory deadlines Congress set forth for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Broadband Grant Programs.

Request for Comments on Competition in the Mobile App Ecosystem

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is requesting comments on competition in the mobile application ecosystem.

FCC Seeks Partners for Local Wireless Emergency Alert Tests

The Federal Communications Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau seeks to gain a better understanding of end-to-end Wireless Emergency Alerts performance. The bureau seeks to partner with alert originators to conduct localized, end-to-end WEA performance tests to be conducted in the third quarter of 2022. These tests will be designed to measure WEA’s capabilities with enhanced WEA geo-targeting enabled. The bureau will work with the selected alert originator(s) to define the parameters of the test and the roles and responsibilities of test developers and participants.

Global Cross-Border Privacy Rules Declaration

Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, and the United States of America are establishing a Global Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) Forum to promote interoperability and help bridge different regulatory approaches to data protection and privacy.  The objectives of the Global CBPR Forum are to:

FCC seeks comment on T-Mobile Petition for Declaratory Ruling in Bringing Puerto Rico Together and the Connect USVI Fund Stage 2

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau seeks comment on the Petition for Declaratory Ruling filed on April 7, 2022 by T-Mobile USA. In its Petition, T-Mobile seeks clarification that the Bringing Puerto Rico Together Fund and the Connect USVI Fund permit it to use Stage 2 mobile support for the deployment of distributed antenna systems, which T-Mobile states would further the FCC’s goal to make networks more resilient to future disasters.

Comment Due Date: May 2, 2022 Reply Comment Due Date: May 9, 2022 (WC Docket No. 18-143)

Rural Digital Fund Authorizes Eighth Round of Winning Bids

The Federal Communications Commission authorized Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (Auction 904) support for 1,345 winning bids in its eighth round of awards. The RDOF program is designed to provide funding to companies to cover some of the costs of making broadband available to rural areas currently lacking high-speed service. Winning bidders were determined through a reverse auction that awarded funding for an area to the company that committed to deploying service for the lowest level of support, with a weighting system favoring bids for higher-speed, lower-latency service.