Final Foreign-Ownership NPRM Reveals Few Changes Before FCC Approval
The FCC made limited changes to an NPRM on foreign-ownership rules, as agency officials indicated at last week's meeting, where commissioners approved the item 4-0 (see 2505220056). The FCC posted the NPRM on Tuesday.
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A notable change is that the NPRM now asks about whether revocations of operational authority can be made on delegated authority by staff. Should revocations “require Commission-level action, or should we delegate such authority to the Enforcement and Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureaus?”
The NPRM also now asks about whether the certification and reporting requirements should apply to U.S. citizens who hold dual citizenship or multiple citizenships, “and foreign persons who are citizens of two or more countries, regardless of U.S. citizenship or permanent residency” in the U.S. “What are the benefits and drawbacks to this approach?”
The FCC also added text on due diligence tied to a requirement that companies report ownership interests within 30 days of a change in ownership or control: “Given that some publicly traded companies may not be aware of certain ownership information until a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission is required, which may occur outside our proposed 30-day window, we seek comment on whether we should adopt a different due diligence expectation or reporting timeframe for publicly traded companies.”