Subsea Cable Order Sees Changes to Presumptive Disqualifications
The subsea cable license order adopted at the FCC's August meeting (see 2508070037) differs materially from the draft order regarding presumptions that disqualify an applicant from receiving a license. The 214-page, finalized version of the order was released Wednesday.
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Language in the draft presuming that applicants haven't violated the Cable Landing Licensing Act was replaced with language saying the agency presumes applicants haven't materially violated that law where the violation wasn't handled with a consent decree or compliance plan or was found by the FCC to be deliberate. The approved order also specifies that the presumptive disqualifications can't have happened within the previous 20 years. The draft order didn't give a statute of limitations. A presumption in the draft order that an applicant hasn't engaged in fraudulent conduct before another U.S. agency was amended to "fraudulent conduct concerning national security."
The North American Submarine Cable Association pushed for changes to the presumptive disqualification language in the draft order (see 2507310050).
Language in the draft barring cable repair ships operated by foreign adversaries was expanded in the approved order to cover ships controlled by or subject to the jurisdiction of foreign adversaries as well.
The adopted order also contains tweaks in the draft's declaration of what information has to be reported to the FCC when an applicant seeks a cable landing license or modification, a transfer of control, or a license renewal or extension. Under the adopted order, applicants also have to provide the design capacity of the submarine cable system.