FCC March 2023 Open Meeting Agenda

We are a little under three weeks away from revealing the winners of this year’s Academy Awards, but you don’t have to wait to find out what the Federal Communication Commission has lined up for our Open Meeting just days after the Oscars. Here’s what to expect at our March meeting:

• We’re harnessing the power of satellites to enhance mobile phone operations: Wireless carriers have increasingly begun collaborating with satellite operators to make sure smartphone users stay connected even in areas where there is no terrestrial mobile service;
• We’re bringing common sense and fairness to prison phone rates The Commission’s long-running efforts to provide relief for families of incarcerated people forced to pay exorbitant and unreasonable telephone rates got a major boost last month when the President signed the bipartisan Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act;
• We’re tightening the vise on illegal robocalls: Combatting illegal robocalls requires constant vigilance and consistently reviewing our protections to identify and close gaps in our defenses;
• We’re protecting consumers from text messaging scams: Unwanted robo-texts from invalid phone numbers have become a persistent, growing threat to consumers;
• We’re updating our equipment testing standards: The Commission’s equipment authorization program ensures that the communications equipment we all rely on operates effectively without causing harmful interference and complies with the Commission’s rules;
• We’re making video programming more accessible: Audio description makes video programming more accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired by inserting narrated descriptions of a television program’s key visual elements during natural pauses in the program’s dialogue; 
• We will also consider two items from our Enforcement Bureau.