Public Notice

President Donald J. Trump announced his intent to nominate Michael J. K. Kratsios of South Carolina, to be an Associate Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Upon appointment, designate him to be the United States Chief Technology Officer.

This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposes to reconfigure the 900 MHz band to facilitate broadband via a market-driven, voluntary exchange process to allow existing licensees to agree to a voluntarily plan for relocating incumbents and for transitioning the band. The 900 MHz band (896-901/935-940 MHz) is designated for narrowband private land mobile radio (PLMR) communications by Business/Industrial/Land Transportation (B/ILT) licensees and for Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) providers, with deployed systems primarily used for two-way communication by land transportation, utility, ma

The following items have been adopted by the Federal Communications Commission and deleted from the list of items scheduled for consideration at the March 15 Open Meeting:

The Federal Communications Commission solicits nominations for membership on a new Increasing Broadband Investment in Low-Income Communities Working Group of the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC). This new working group will assist the BDAC in providing advice and recommendations to the Commission on new ways to encourage the deployment of high-speed broadband infrastructure and services to low-income communities. The work of this new BDAC group will help further the Commission’s top priority—closing the digital divide for all Americans.

For certain spectrum blocks in the 700 MHz band, licensees that fail to meet the Federal Communications Commission’s construction benchmarks keep the areas of the license that they serve, and the remaining unserved areas are returned to the Commission’s inventory for relicensing. This approach provides other parties with opportunities to acquire spectrum that is not adequately built out and to serve communities that might otherwise not receive service.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau seeks comment on a petition for declaratory ruling, or in the alternative a petition for a partial waiver, filed by Verizon on February 22, 2019, in WT Docket No. 06-150, regarding section 27.16(e) of the Commission’s C Block licensing rules (the handset locking rule). Specifically, Verizon requests that the FCC declare that the handset locking rule permits Verizon to adopt a temporary, 60-day lock on the 4G LTE handsets it provides, to ensure that the handsets are purchased by bona fide customers.

The Federal Communications Commission adopted a change to a rule to incorporate a statutory update to the authorities of the FCC’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) into the FCC’s organizational rules.

The Federal Communications Commission offered an additional $67 million in annual support to certain rural broadband providers that could bring improved service to nearly 110,000 homes and businesses in rural communities across 43 states. Carriers that accept the offer must expand the availability of broadband service delivering at least 25 Mbps downloads/3 Mbps uploads to their rural customers. Carriers have 30 days to decide whether to accept the additional funding.

The Federal Communications Commission has renewed the charter for the Disability Advisory Committee. The charter became effective December 21, 2018 and provides the Committee with authorization to operate for two years from the effective date. Issues to be considered by the Committee may include, but are not limited to,

The funding year (FY) 2019 application filing window for the Rural Health Care Universal Service Support Mechanism (RHC Program) opened on February 1, 2019 and will run through May 31, 2019. To assist eligible health care providers participating in the RHC Telecom Program as they compile their applications for FY2019, this Public Notice provides guidance on complying with program rules, including the FCC’s rules for determining rural rates.