Protecting Our Communications Networks by Promoting Transparency Regarding Foreign Adversary Control

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION <CFR>47 CFR Parts 1, 2, 13, 15, 17, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 52, 54, 63, 64, 73, 76, 80, 87, 88, 90, 95, 96, 97, 101</CFR> <DEPDOC>[GN Docket No. 25-166; FCC 25-28; FR ID 299066]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Protecting Our Communications Networks by Promoting Transparency Regarding Foreign Adversary Control</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Federal Communications Commission. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Proposed rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) proposes to protect the Nation's communications networks against foreign adversary threats by proposing to expand foreign ownership disclosure requirements for covered Commission-issued licenses and authorizations. The proposed certification and information collection requirements would fill gaps in the Commission's existing rules and give the Commission, and the public, a new and comprehensive view of threats from foreign adversaries in the communications sector. Specifically, the Commission proposes to apply new certification and disclosure requirements on entities holding every type of license, permit, or authorization, rather than only certain specific licenses, as the Commission currently does. Furthermore, the Commission proposes to go beyond foreign ownership to also cover all regulated entities controlled by or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign adversary. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Comments are due on or before July 21, 2025, and reply comments are due on or before August 19, 2025. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Pursuant to §§ 1.415 and 1.419 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 1.415, 1.419, interested parties may file comments and reply comments, identified by GN Docket No. 25-166, by any of the following methods: • <E T="03">Electronic Filers:</E> Comments may be filed electronically using the internet by accessing the Commission's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS): <E T="03">https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/. See Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings,</E> 63 FR 24121 (1998). • <E T="03">Paper Filers:</E> Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and one copy of each filing. • Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial courier, or by the U.S. Postal Service. <E T="03">All filings must be addressed to the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.</E> • Hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission's Secretary are accepted between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. by the FCC's mailing contractor at 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be disposed of before entering the building. • Commercial courier deliveries (any deliveries not by the U.S. Postal Service) must be sent to 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701. • Filings sent by U.S. Postal Service First-Class Mail, Priority Mail, and Priority Mail Express must be sent to 45 L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554. <E T="03">Accessible formats.</E> To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an email to <E T="03">fcc504@fcc.gov</E> or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice). <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> For further information about the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ( <E T="03">NPRM</E> ), contact Mason Shefa, Attorney Advisor, Competition Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, at <E T="03">Mason.Shefa@fcc.gov.</E> For additional information concerning the Paperwork Reduction Act proposed information collection requirements contained in this document, send an email to <E T="03">PRA@fcc.gov</E> or contact Nicole Ongele at (202) 418-2991. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> This is a summary of the Commission's <E T="03">NPRM,</E> FCC 25-28, in GN Docket No. 25-166, adopted on May 22, 2025, and released on May 27, 2025. The complete text of this document is available for download at <E T="03">https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-25-28A1.pdf.</E> <E T="03">Paperwork Reduction Act:</E> The <E T="03">NPRM</E> may contain proposed new and revised information collection requirements. The Commission, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, invites the general public and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to comment on the information collection requirements described in this document, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. In addition, pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public Law 107-198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4), we seek specific comment on how we might further reduce the information collection burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees. <E T="03">Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act:</E> Consistent with the Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act, Public Law 118-9, a summary of this document will be available on <E T="03">https://www.fcc.gov/proposed-rulemakings.</E> <E T="03">Ex Parte Rules:</E> The proceeding the <E T="03">NPRM</E> initiates shall be treated as a “permit-but-disclose” proceeding in accordance with the Commission's <E T="03">ex parte</E> rules. Persons making <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentations must file a copy of any written presentation or a memorandum summarizing any oral presentation within two business days after the presentation (unless a different deadline applicable to the Sunshine period applies). Persons making oral <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentations are reminded that memoranda summarizing the presentation must (1) list all persons attending or otherwise participating in the meeting at which the <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentation was made, and (2) summarize all data presented and arguments made during the presentation. If the presentation consisted in whole or in part of the presentation of data or arguments already reflected in the presenter's written comments, memoranda or other filings in the proceeding, the presenter may provide citations to such data or arguments in his or her prior comments, memoranda, or other filings (specifying the relevant page and/or paragraph numbers where such data or arguments can be found) in lieu of summarizing them in the memorandum. Documents shown or given to Commission staff during <E T="03">ex parte</E> meetings are deemed to be written <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentations and must be filed consistent with § 1.1206(b) of the Commission's rules. In proceedings governed by § 1.49(f) of the Commission's rules or for which the Commission has made available a method of electronic filing, written <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentations and memoranda summarizing oral <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentations, and all attachments thereto, must, when feasible, be filed through the electronic comment filing system available for that proceeding, and must be filed in their native format ( <E T="03">e.g.,</E> .doc, .xml, .ppt, searchable .pdf). Participants in this proceeding should familiarize themselves with the Commission's <E T="03">ex parte</E> rules. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Synopsis</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Discussion</HD> The Commission has long recognized the importance of protecting our communications networks against foreign threats. From decades of review of foreign ownership in licensing applications to the creation of the Covered List of equipment and services that pose unacceptable risks to national security, and the revocation of foreign adversary authorizations, the Commission has taken seriously the national security, law enforcement, foreign policy, and trade policy risks that may be presented by foreign ownership and control of Commission licensees and authorization holders. In this <E T="03">NPRM,</E> we build on this important work and propose to adopt requirements that would further our understanding of threats from foreign adversaries. The proposed certification and information collection requirements would fill gaps in the Commission's existing rules and give the Commission, and the public, a new and comprehensive view of threats from foreign adversaries in the communications sector. Specifically, the Commission proposes to apply new certification and disclosure requirements on entities holding every type of license, permit, or authorization, rather than only certain specific licenses, as the Commission currently does. Furthermore, the Commission proposes to go beyond foreign ownership to also cover all regulated entities controlled by or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign adversary. By focusing on foreign adversary ownership or control, rather than foreign influence more broadly, our proposed rules are tailored to avoid needless burden on regulated entities. <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Scope of the Information Collection</HD> In the <E T="03">NPRM,</E> we seek comment on the scope of licenses, authorizations, permits, and other approvals subject to the certification and information collection requirements we propose below. We first consider how to define the terms “person owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign adversary,” and “foreign adversary” for the purposes of our proposed rules. We then consider which types of licenses, authorizations, permits, and other approvals would trigger reporting requirements for their holders under our proposed rules. <HD SOURCE="HD3">1. Definitions</HD> For the purposes of our certification and information collection requirements, we propose adopting the term “person owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jur ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 165k characters. 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