Needed: A Universal FCC Deadline Policy

For Federal Communications Commission rules and procedures to be truly effective, everyone needs to know with a certain level of confidence what will happen if applicable deadlines are missed. Not only does this not exist today, but the Commission’s inconsistency with how it responds to late filings borders on arbitrary and capricious. To rectify, I suggest it is time to establish a universally-applied policy that, from now on, everyone is expected to either comply with all applicable deadlines or face the consequences.

Let’s remove the ambiguity and wide disparity of approaches once and for all. As it stands now, the FCC is unintentionally favoring some parties over others through its disparate treatment of its deadlines. Moreover, combining a short amnesty window to rectify current instances where licensees may not be in compliance with the implementation of firm deadlines, going forward, would help restore administrative certainty, transparency, parity, and confidence in our enforcement process.