WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Chairwoman of the FCC has revealed a plan to reorganize the agency to “better support the needs of the growing satellite industry,” as well as to promote “long-term technical capacity” at the Commission and navigate 21st century global communications policy.
Under the plan, the FCC International Bureau will be transformed.
Speaking at the National Press Club in downtown Washington, Jessica Rosenworcel shared that a new Space Bureau and a standalone Office of International Affairs are in the works for the FCC.
These changes, the Commission believes, “will help ensure that the FCC’s resources are better aligned so that the agency can continue to fulfill its statutory obligations and keep pace with the rapidly changing realities of the satellite industry and global communications policy.”
Rosenworcel commented, “The satellite industry is growing at a record pace, but here on the ground our regulatory frameworks for licensing them have not kept up. Over the past two years the agency has received applications for 64,000 new satellites. In addition, we are seeing new commercial models, new players, and new technologies coming together to pioneer a wide-range of new satellite services and space-based activities that need access to wireless airwaves.”
She added that the new Space Bureau “will ensure that the agency’s resources are appropriately aligned to fulfill its statutory obligations, improve its coordination across the federal government, and support the 21st century satellite industry.”
The Commission licenses radio frequency uses by satellites and ensures that space systems reviewed by the agency have sufficient plans to mitigate orbital debris under the authority of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. By establishing a stand-alone Space Bureau the agency aims to better fulfill its statutory obligations and elevate the significance of satellite programs and policy within the agency to a level that reflects the importance of the emerging space economy.
By separating satellite policy from the “International Bureau,” the agency acknowledges the role of satellite communications in advancing domestic communications policy and achieving U.S. broadband goals, it explained.
Lastly, the goal of establishing a stand-alone Office of International Affairs, the Commission said, will allow relevant experts to focus specifically on matters of international communications regulation and licensing as we enter a new era of global communications policy.
“Additionally, this structure emulates the successful models of offices such as Office of Engineering and Technology, and Office of General Counsel that allows for consistent expertise to be leveraged across all the Bureaus with a nexus to international affairs,” the Commission said.
