The FCC will meet for the April Open Commission Meeting on Monday, April 28, 2025. During that meeting, the FCC, led by Chairman Brendan Carr, will discuss several issues, including updating the current satellite internet guidelines and reviewing the guidelines for blocking robocalls.
A proposal about satellite internet guidelines shared by Chairman Brendan Carr on Monday says that the home internet marketplace has changed so drastically in recent year that it’s time for those guidelines to be reworked. Notably, the proposal cites a petition from Elon Musk’s SpaceX last year, saying that there are too many restrictions and high costs, based on “flawed and outdated assumptions.” You can read the full proposal here.
The robocall agenda item is from a proposal saying that the FCC has “been at the forefront of efforts to protect the American public from illegal robocalls.” The committee will look at current standards including STIR/SHAKEN which allows providers to check that a caller’s phone number matches the caller ID information, cutting down on spoofed calls. STIR/SHAKEN only works on IP networks, so calls made from non-IP networks can get around the rules. The FCC will look at whether providers must implement frameworks for non-IP networks to further cut down on robocalls. You can read the full proposal here.
The Open Meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. ET. Recordings of the meetings and documents explaining each item on the agenda are posted on the FCC website.
Here’s what’s on the agenda for the meeting:
- Modernizing Spectrum Sharing for Satellite Broadband – The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would promote efficient spectrum sharing between geostationary and non-geostationary satellite systems. To take account of today’s satellite technology and operations and to promote efficient co-existence and expanded services to American consumers, the item would review power limits developed in the 1990s on non-geostationary satellite orbit, fixed-satellite service systems for the protection of geostationary satellite networks. (SB Docket No. 25-157)
- Utilizing the Lower 37 GHz Band – The Commission will consider a Report and Order, Sixth Report and Order, and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking establishing a licensing framework for use of the 37–37.6 GHz band (Lower 37 GHz band). (GN Docket No. 14-177)
- Caller ID Authentication on Non-IP Networks to Block Robocalls – The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes to develop a framework for evaluating whether non-IP caller ID authentication solutions are developed and reasonably available, as required by the TRACED Act, proposes to conclude that certain existing solutions satisfy those requirements, and proposes to require that providers that continue to rely on non-IP networks implement non-IP caller ID authentication solutions. (WC Docket No. 17-97)
- Clarifying Foreign Ownership Rules – The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would set clear expectations about the Commission’s review under section 310(b) of the Act of foreign investment in common carrier wireless, aeronautical radio, and broadcast licensees to reduce unnecessary burdens on industry while continuing to protect the public interest, including national security, law enforcement, foreign policy, and trade policy. (GN Docket No. 25-149)