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  • The FCC unanimously adopted an NPRM proposing a comprehensive restructuring and reform of its long-standing space and earth station licensing rules (Part 25).
  • The NPRM proposes to wholly replace its “Part 25 – Satellite Communications” rules with a new “Part 100 – Space and Earth Station Services” rule section.
  • Comments are due on January 20, 2026, with reply comments due by February 18, 2026.

In an effort to more effectively keep pace with and reduce the burdens on the rapidly evolving and expanding commercial space sector, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) unanimously adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing a comprehensive restructuring and reform of its long-standing space and earth station licensing rules (Part 25). With its breadth of scope and potential impacts across the space ecosystem, the NPRM also serves to highlight the key role the Commission will play in advancing the Trump administration’s broader objective to enhance American greatness in space and facilitate U.S. leadership and innovation.

To achieve these objectives, the Commission’s NPRM proposes to wholly replace its long-standing, oft-revised “Part 25 – Satellite Communications” rules with a new “Part 100 – Space and Earth Station Services” rule section. This new rule section, as the name indicates, would more accurately reflect and respond to the wide range of space-enabled activities that come under the Commission’s licensing purview and oversight authority. The new Part 100 rules will, among other things, (1) adopt new definitions and license categories to address innovative and novel operations in, on, or traversing space; (2) introduce modular licensing for faster and more predictable application review and conditional grants to facilitate and encourage earlier application submission; (3) provide an option for expedited license review for non-controversial applications; (4) establish timelines for Commission review and approval; (5) reform processing round procedures and increase eligibility for non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) systems to qualify for first-come, first-served application processing; (6) update and consolidate operational and technical criteria; and (7) revise the duration of licenses and applicability criteria for surety bond and milestone requirements.

License Concepts for Non-Traditional Space Activities

After years of struggling to shoehorn a litany of innovative and novel activities into the existing frameworks of NGSO and geostationary orbit (GSO) satellite licenses and temporary authorizations, the Commission seeks comment on a proposal to adopt one or more new licensing categories to specifically address on orbit and in-space activities that may not follow “predictable” trajectories during their mission lifetime, including, among others, in-space servicing, assembly, manufacturing, orbital transfer, tactical reconnaissance, lunar relay and orbiters, lunar surface vehicles, and deep space mining. While the NPRM initially proposes to lump all of these activities into a single license category—“Variable Trajectory Spacecraft System”—the Commission also seeks feedback on whether or how certain subcategories should be created. The NPRM also includes proposals for the specific information VTSS licensees would need to provide as part of their applications and during their mission lifetimes, reflective of their variable operations.

Modular Licensing and Conditional Grants of Authority

Dubbed by the Commission as a new “licensing assembly line,” the NPRM proposes methods to standardize, simplify, and accelerate the review of space and earth station applications. To facilitate standardized submission, the NPRM proposes a modular approach to application filing, specifically consolidating certain information into electronic forms that can be completed and attached to the Form 312, as appropriate for the authority being sought. These forms will include the existing Schedule A (assignment and transfer of control), Schedule B (earth station), and new Schedule O (orbital information) and Schedule F (frequency information) for space station applications. Ownership information and orbital debris assessment reports will continue to be attached as exhibits. The NPRM also proposes to allow applicants to reuse the same Form 312 as a base application provided all of the information remains the same. The NPRM also alludes to eliminating the dense legal narratives that currently accompany applications, but does not fully distinguish between a “comprehensive proposal” (current requirement) and a “comprehensive statement” (proposal) to support the application.

Under the modular licensing regime, the NPRM proposes to formalize the conditional grant process for space station applicants (e.g., for those eligible for expedited processing, for those applying before completing critical design review, or for those operating in bands not subject to coordination) and introduce a nationwide, non-site license for earth station applicants similar to the light licensing regime in the 70/80/90 GHz bands. The NPRM also proposes to sunset the Streamlined Small Satellite and Spacecraft licenses as redundant given the proposed changes.

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With a December 8 deadline to come into compliance with the FCC’s new sponsorship identification requirements for airing content connected to a foreign government, broadcasters have been racing to figure out how to comply in a practical way.  As previously discussed here and here, the new rule requires that broadcasters determine whether leases of airtime (including certain advertising) involve content that is provided, funded, or distributed by “governments of foreign countries, foreign political parties, agents of foreign principals, and United States-based foreign media outlets.”

Under the rule, broadcasters must document their completion of a number of required steps to determine if provided content has such foreign government connections, and if so, ensure disclosures are included in the content when aired, and place documentation of those disclosures in the Public Inspection File on a quarterly basis.

The challenge is not so much the airing of the disclosures themselves, but collecting the required paperwork from potentially thousands of advertisers to determine if any are connected to a foreign government.  Beyond the sheer paperwork and resources burden, broadcasters do not want to make it yet more difficult for advertisers to purchase broadcast airtime, particularly when those same advertisers can simply move their content to streamers or other online venues and skip the paperwork complexities entirely, whether connected to a foreign government or not.

The current version of the rule became effective on June 10, 2025, but on that date, the FCC extended the compliance deadline to December 8, 2025.  This gave broadcasters a six-month reprieve, but even with that added time, compliance remained a daunting proposition.

It was therefore with a sigh of relief that broadcasters learned this afternoon that the FCC has again moved the compliance deadline, this time to June 7, 2026.  This not only provides broadcasters with additional time to sort out a practical approach to complying with the new requirements, but keeps alive the hope that the FCC will use this added time to streamline these rather unwieldy requirements before next June.

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The rapid expansion of the commercial space economy over the last decade has resulted in demand on spectrum far exceeding the Commission’s expectations at the time it devised and adopted its Upper Microwave Flexible Use Spectrum (UMFUS) sharing framework. At the same time, negligible adoption of millimeter wave bands by terrestrial services has upended the assumptions central to the framework and its constraints on earth station deployments in favor of 5G operations. As a result, the UMFUS framework quickly became an impediment to efficient use of millimeter wave spectrum and a barrier to the deployment of next-generation satellite systems.

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Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published the FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others.  This month’s issue includes:

  • FCC Extends Consent Decree After New “Issues” Arise
  • FCC Resolves Pirate Radio Investigation With 20-Year Consent Decree
  • Spurious Emissions Lead to Notice of Violation for FM Translator Licensee

Order Extends Consent Decree Obligations Through 2029

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau recently released an Order amending a 2024 Consent Decree with a nationwide business communications company extending the company’s compliance obligations by an additional year.  Under the amended terms, the company will now be required to file compliance reports through 2029 and report any noncompliance with the FCC’s rules or the Consent Decree during the now extended term within 15 days of discovery.  The Order did not assess any new fines, but incorporated the extended reporting period and updated several provisions of the original Consent Decree.  The FCC did not elaborate on the reasons it deemed the extension necessary, stating only that it was done “to resolve issues arising after adoption and release of the Consent Decree.”

As we discussed here in April 2024, the company agreed to the original Consent Decree to resolve an FCC investigation into its unauthorized control and operation of multiple private business radio licenses.  The investigation stemmed from the company’s acquisition of entities holding FCC licenses without prior FCC approval, along with continued operations under expired or improperly transferred authorizations.  To resolve the investigation, the company agreed to pay a $100,000 civil penalty, implement a multi-year compliance plan, and submit annual compliance reports to the FCC for four years.  Due to the additional “issues,” the four-year compliance plan is now a five-year compliance plan.

The important takeaway from this proceeding is that a consent decree does not mark the end of an investigatory encounter with the FCC, but is merely a waypoint.  The penalty for a repeated offense while the consent decree is still in effect can be substantial.  In addition, most consent decrees require the alleged violator to promptly report any new violations to the FCC, greatly increasing the likelihood that new violations will come to light (and of course concealing violations that a consent decree requires be promptly reported ramps up the risk of severe FCC enforcement action considerably).  So those who sign a consent decree thinking the worst is behind them need to make a concerted effort to ensure that there are no future violations as well, particularly during the term of the consent decree.  The enforcement process does not end when the “voluntary contribution” payment is made under a consent decree.  It continues quietly, through compliance reports, follow-up reviews, and, when needed, renewed enforcement action.

Massachusetts Pirate Radio Operator Agrees to Lengthy 20-Year Consent Decree

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau has entered into a Consent Decree with an individual operating a pirate radio station in Massachusetts.  Pirate radio operations are illegal under the Communications Act of 1934 and can interfere with licensed communications, posing a danger to the public by interfering with licensed stations carrying public safety messages, including Emergency Alert System transmissions.

The Consent Decree follows the FCC’s issuance of a $40,000 Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) in April 2024 for operating an unauthorized FM broadcast station without a license.  In the NAL, the FCC found that the individual had twice violated the FCC’s Rules, on June 6 and July 11, 2023, by operating an unauthorized radio station.  Under Section 511 of the Communications Act, the FCC may impose a fine against any person “who willfully and knowingly does or causes or suffers to be done any pirate radio broadcasting.” Continue reading →

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December 1 is the deadline for broadcast stations licensed to communities in Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Vermont to place their Annual EEO Public File Report in their Public Inspection File and post the report on their station website.

Under the FCC’s EEO Rule, all radio and television station employment units (“SEUs”), regardless of staff size, must afford equal opportunity to all qualified persons and practice nondiscrimination in employment.

In addition, those SEUs with five or more full-time employees (“Nonexempt SEUs”) must also comply with the FCC’s three-prong outreach requirements.  Specifically, Nonexempt SEUs must (i) broadly and inclusively disseminate information about every full-time job opening, except in exigent circumstances, (ii) send notifications of full-time job vacancies to referral organizations that have requested such notification, and (iii) earn a certain minimum number of EEO credits based on participation in various non-vacancy-specific outreach initiatives (“Menu Options”) suggested by the FCC, during each of the two-year segments (four segments total) that comprise a station’s eight-year license term.  These Menu Option initiatives include, for example, sponsoring job fairs, participating in job fairs, and having an internship program.

Nonexempt SEUs must prepare and place their Annual EEO Public File Report in the Public Inspection Files and on the websites of all stations comprising the SEU (if they have a website) by the anniversary date of the filing deadline for that station’s license renewal application.  The Annual EEO Public File Report summarizes the SEU’s EEO activities during the previous 12 months, and the licensee must maintain adequate records to document those activities.

For a detailed description of the EEO Rule and practical assistance in preparing a compliance plan, broadcasters should consult The FCC’s Equal Employment Opportunity Rules and Policies – A Guide for Broadcasters published by Pillsbury’s Communications Practice Group.

Deadline for the Annual EEO Public File Report for Nonexempt Radio and Television SEUs

Consistent with the above, December 1, 2025 is the date by which Nonexempt SEUs of radio and television stations licensed to communities in the states identified above, including Class A television stations, must (i) place their Annual EEO Public File Report in the Public Inspection Files of all stations comprising the SEU, and (ii) post the Report on the websites, if any, of those stations.  Once the new Report is posted on a station’s website, the prior year’s Report may be removed from that website. Continue reading →

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Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published the FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others. This month’s issue is a special edition:

FCC Enforcement Monitor—The Government Shutdown Edition
While shutdowns of the federal government have become depressingly common, the FCC has generally been less affected than most government agencies because it is not funded by taxpayer dollars but by regulatory fees paid by broadcasters and others regulated by the FCC. However, because the FCC collects those fees in arrears—at the end of the fiscal year they fund rather than the beginning—the FCC must borrow operating funds from the federal government to operate and then repay that debt when regulatory fees are collected at the end of the fiscal year. That is the reason the FCC is never able to extend its regulatory fee collection deadline beyond September 30, the last day of the federal fiscal year.

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At today’s Open Meeting, the FCC unanimously adopted a Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to accelerate the transition to the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard (NextGen TV).  The NPRM sets the stage for significant progress towards a nationwide transition, proposing to shift from mandatory to voluntary ATSC 1.0 simulcasting because broadcasters are now “best positioned to determine how to continue to serve their viewers while rolling out 3.0 services.”

Under current rules adopted in the FCC’s 2017 First NextGen TV Report and Order, full-power and Class A stations seeking to transition to the ATSC 3.0 standard must maintain an ATSC 1.0 simulcast of their primary stream through a partnership with one or more ATSC 1.0 “host” stations assigned to the same designated market area, and the ATSC 1.0 simulcast stream must be “substantially similar” to the ATSC 3.0 stream.  The simulcasting requirement was intended to be transitional, and the Commission initially scheduled the “substantially similar” requirement to sunset on July 17, 2023.  As that date approached, however, the FCC adopted the June 2023 Third Report and Order and Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking extending the sunset date to July 17, 2027.

Since then, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and many individual broadcasters have continued to press the FCC for greater simulcasting flexibility in order to more effectively showcase the benefits of the ATSC 3.0 standard, including in comments submitted in the Delete, Delete, Delete proceeding.  NAB also filed a Petition for Rulemaking (NAB Petition) earlier this year asking the FCC to, among other things:

  • Establish a two-phase mandatory transition under which stations in the top 55 markets would move fully to ATSC 3.0 by February 2028 and all remaining markets by February 2030, with limited exceptions for noncommercial educational or smaller, independent stations;
  • Eliminate the “substantially similar” requirement prior to the scheduled 2027 sunset date;
  • Relax the 95 percent coverage threshold required for expedited application processing;
  • Update the tuner and carriage standards to ensure that consumers can continue to receive broadcast programming as the industry transitions to ATSC 3.0; and
  • Consider updates to the MVPD carriage rules, including the “good quality signal” rule.

The Media Bureau received more than 900 comments and replies in response to the NAB Petition in a pleading cycle that closed in June 2025. Continue reading →

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Broadcasters’ next Quarterly Issues/Programs List (“Quarterly List”) must be placed in stations’ Public Inspection Files by October 10, 2025, reflecting information for the months of July, August, and September 2025.

Content of the Quarterly List

The FCC requires each broadcast station to air a reasonable amount of programming responsive to significant community needs, issues, and problems as determined by the station.  The FCC gives each station the discretion to determine which issues facing the community served by the station are the most significant and how best to respond to them in the station’s overall programming.

To demonstrate a station’s compliance with this public interest obligation, the FCC requires the station to maintain and place in the Public Inspection File a Quarterly List reflecting the “station’s most significant programming treatment of community issues during the preceding three month period.”  By its use of the term “most significant,” the FCC has noted that stations are not required to list all responsive programming, but only that programming which provided the most significant treatment of the issues identified.

Given that program logs are no longer mandated by the FCC, the Quarterly Lists may be the most important evidence of a station’s compliance with its public service obligations.  The lists also provide important support for the certification of Class A television station compliance discussed below.  We therefore urge stations not to “skimp” on the Quarterly Lists, and to err on the side of over-inclusiveness.  Otherwise, stations risk a determination by the FCC that they did not adequately serve the public interest during their license term.  Stations should include in the Quarterly Lists as much issue-responsive programming as they feel is necessary to demonstrate fully their responsiveness to community needs.  Taking extra time now to provide a thorough Quarterly List will help reduce risk at license renewal time.

The FCC has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the Quarterly Lists and often brings enforcement actions against stations that do not have complete Quarterly Lists in their Public Inspection File or which have failed to timely upload such lists when due.  The FCC’s base fine for missing or late Quarterly Lists is $10,000.

Preparation of the Quarterly List

The Quarterly Lists are required to be placed in the Public Inspection File by January 10, April 10, July 10, and October 10 of each year.  The next Quarterly List is required to be placed in stations’ Public Inspection Files by October 10, 2025, covering the period from July 1, 2025 through September 30, 2025. Continue reading →

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Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published the FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others.  This month’s issue includes:

  • $7,000 Consent Decree for National Cell Phone Provider Marketing Unauthorized Smartphone
  • FCC Pursues Missouri Property Owners Over Pirate Radio Broadcasts
  • New Hampshire AM Station Gets Notice of Violation for Failing to Air Station IDs

FCC Settles Investigation Into Marketing of Unauthorized Smartphone

A national wireless provider entered into a Consent Decree with the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau for marketing a smartphone in the United States prior to receiving equipment authorization for it from the Commission.  The phone was announced and marketing of it commenced on May 14, 2024.  The provider advertised and otherwise marketed the phone for over a week until it was made available for purchase on May 23, 2024.  The phone received an FCC equipment authorization on May 29, 2024.  During that two-week period, thousands of phones were sold to consumers in violation of the FCC’s equipment marketing rules.

Section 302(b) of the Communications Act and Section 2.803(b) of the FCC’s Rules prohibit marketing or importing radio frequency devices prior to receiving equipment authorization by the FCC.  “Marketing” includes selling, leasing, offering for sale or lease, advertising for sale or lease, importing, shipping, or distributing the device for sale or lease.  Sections 2.1203 and 2.1204 of the FCC’s Rules require radio frequency devices to receive equipment authorization approval prior to importation into the U.S. unless the device qualifies for an exemption and complies with the FCC’s applicable technical and administrative requirements.

In October 2024, the FCC sent a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) to the provider requesting information about the marketing of the smartphone and seeking information regarding compliance with the FCC’s import restrictions.  The provider timely responded to the LOI, explaining that it typically “relies on manufacturers to ensure that FCC equipment authorization procedures are met” and citing its contractual terms with the manufacturer regarding authorization prior to delivery.  The FCC determined, however, that those contractual references were insufficient to avoid a violation of its import rules.

To resolve the matter, the provider entered into a Consent Decree with the Enforcement Bureau under which it agreed to implement a Compliance Plan and make a $7,000 voluntary contribution to the U.S. Treasury.  The Consent Decree requires the provider to designate a compliance officer, implement a multi-part Compliance Plan, file annual compliance reports with the Commission for the next three years, and verify that all devices have proper FCC authorization (or qualify for an exemption) prior to accepting delivery of them.

Missouri Property Owners Warned Over Illegal Radio Broadcasts

The Enforcement Bureau issued a Notice of Illegal Pirate Radio Broadcasting (Notice) to two property owners in Boonville, Missouri.  The Enforcement Bureau’s Columbia Office investigated the property after receiving a complaint about unlicensed operation.  The agents confirmed, using direction-finding techniques, that unauthorized transmissions were emanating from the property on two separate occasions: December 18, 2024, and August 21, 2025.

FCC records indicated that no license had been issued for a broadcast station at that location, and the Enforcement Bureau determined that exemptions for extremely low-powered devices also did not apply. Continue reading →

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On August 29, 2025, the FCC released its Report and Order establishing the annual regulatory fees for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025.  The Commission followed that release with a Public Notice announcing that regulatory fees must be paid no later than 11:59 PM, Eastern Daylight Time on September 25, 2025. The fees must be paid for all licenses and initial construction permits granted on or before October 1, 2024.

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