Submarine Cable Proposals Could Face Industry Pushback
The submarine cable rules rewrite NPRM on the FCC's Nov. 21 meeting agenda (see 2410310048) will likely see resistance from subsea cable operators, who question proposals on shorter license terms, subsea cable experts told us. However, one said a 5-0 approval of the draft NPRM is likely. It's less clear whether the next FCC will make draft rules from the NPRM a priority, the expert added.
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The national security-oriented proceeding comes as submarine cable resiliency and security are gaining attention before Congress and at the Department of Homeland Security. House Counterterrorism Subcommittee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, in September introduced the Undersea Cable Security and Protection Act (HR-9766), which would create an FCC/DHS working group for undersea cable security and resiliency.
Given that attention, an NRPM based on the premise of promoting law enforcement and national security interests "is one way the FCC can ensure that it has a seat at that table," emailed Womble Bond communications lawyer Marty Stern, who has submarine cable experience. But the NPRM's proposals "are overly burdensome and regulatory, imposing a raft of new requirements on submarine cable operators while also bringing in the entire submarine cable ecosystem," he said. The proposals would place "significant new burdens on not only the industry, but also on the FCC and the Team Telecom agencies, which would pretty obviously result in longer delays and lengthening already extended processing times -- exacerbating current regulatory challenges facing the industry in deploying new cables and getting them in the water." Team Telecom refers to the DOJ, DOD and DHS officials comprising the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecommunications Services Sector.
The draft NPRM proposes shortening submarine cable licenses from 25 years, and asks whether a five- or 10-year license term would change investment incentives for new submarine cable infrastructure or effect upgrades or maintenance of existing systems. The draft NPRM says shorter license terms, along with a requirement that submarine cable network operators periodically report certain information, would give the FCC and executive branch agencies "the ability and opportunity to assess in a more timely and systematic manner, the evolving national security, law enforcement, foreign policy, and/or trade policy risks associated with cable landing licenses."
Submarine cable systems cost hundreds of millions of dollars and have a useful life of 25 years or more, one lawyer with submarine cable experience told us. Shortening the licensing term when there hasn't been operator noncompliance means less investor certainty, which could make the U.S. a less-attractive market for submarine cable systems, he said. The agency is already considering three-year reporting requirements for submarine cable operators, so there's no need to also shorten the license periods. Rather than changing licensing terms, the agency can easily pursue a license revocation, he said.
As of Thursday, nothing was posted in the FCC's electronic comment filing system in the proceeding's docket, 24-523. The North American Submarine Cable Association didn't comment.