Chairman Genachowski on Reforming FCC

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski visited Georgetown University on Nov 7 to discuss FCC reform. He describe the key findings of the agency’s plan for retrospective analysis and its efforts to eliminate requirements where possible, modify rules as needed, and improve internal processes. He said these efforts are removing needless burdens on industry, enabling the agency to efficiently promote competition and empower consumers, and unleashing innovation and investment across the broadband economy.

The FCC has eliminated 190 obsolete regulations and identified twenty-five data collections that may be eliminated. The FCC has reformed and updated many rules. It has reduced backlogs, including an 89% reduction in satellite licensing applications and a 30% reduction in broadcast licensing applications. The FCC has significantly reduced the time between the vote on an FCC decision such as a rulemaking order and the release of the full text of the decision. It used to take on average 14 calendar days after a vote for the FCC to release the full text of its decisions, and major orders could take weeks or months to be released as language was finalized and documents were processed. Now our average is down to just 3 days, with a majority of decisions released within one day of the vote. The FCC also overhauled its website. It’s the first website that makes government data available in formats that can help entrepreneurs build innovative applications, including making all application programming interfaces or “APIs” available for developers.
The FCC plans to review experimental radio licensing policies. The FCC is examining rule changes that might remove impediments to the development of dynamic spectrum access technology, which will allow for more efficient spectrum use. The FCC is moving forward with a proceeding designed to protect consumers from fraudulent charges on their telephone bills – what’s commonly called cramming. The FCC will be undertaking a comprehensive review of the Commission’s technical standards for cable television service in response to changes in cable television systems technology.