Wolters Kluwer Examines the Federal Communications Commission's Proposal to Restrict Federal Funding for Companies Deemed National Security Threats

NEW YORK, April 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As reported by Wolters Kluwer's TR Daily, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unanimously proposed prohibiting the use of universal service support for telecommunications service providers deemed national security threats during today's Open Commission Meeting, despite some Commissioners' concerns about the potential effects on universal service.

The experts behind Wolters Kluwer's TR Daily reported that under the new proposal, U.S. companies that do business with foreign manufacturers deemed national security concerns would be restricted from receiving United Service Fund (USF) funding. The prohibition would apply to funds disbursed following the adoption of the rule.  Changes in the proposal since the draft version circulated last month would raise the possibility of removing previously installed equipment subsequently found to be a threat, according to Commissioner Brendan Carr.  The proposal aims to protect networks from equipment that "provides an avenue for hostile governments to inject viruses, launch denial-of-service attacks, steal data, and more," according to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.

"The FCC's action follows congressional concerns about supply chain vulnerabilities, especially with respect to foreign companies," said Lynn Stanton of Wolters Kluwer's TR Daily. "The vote reflects assurances Chairman Ajit Pai gave lawmakers recently to take steps to safeguard the supply chain for communications networks in the United States."

Wolters Kluwer's TR Daily notes the growing U.S. government concern surrounding foreign companies, such as China-based Huawei Tchnologies Co. Ltd., ZTE Corp., and Russia-based Kaspersky Labs, which were mentioned in the FCC's draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) as foreign companies that provide equipment or services in the telecom space that Congress or other agencies have cited as possible security risks.

Additional issues voted on during today's FCC Open Commission Meeting included:

• Proposed procedures for two upcoming auctions of millimeter-wave spectrum;
• Proposal to streamline the agency's process for authorizing small commercial satellite systems;
• Item aimed at improving rural call completion;
• NPRM to enable rate-of-return (RoR) carriers that receive model-based high-cost support to transition their business data services (BDS) from RoR to incentive regulation; and
• One item on the Chairman's ongoing effort to modernize the agency's media regulations.

Wolters Kluwer's TR Daily is provided by Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.
For more information on TR Daily visit the website. 

About Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.
Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. is part of Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AEX: WKL), a global leader in information, software solutions and services for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services.

Wolters Kluwer reported 2017 annual revenues of €4.4 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.

For more information about Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S., visit www.WoltersKluwerLR.com, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Media
Linda Gharib
Director, Communications
Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.
Tel: +1 (646) 887-7962
Email: [email protected]

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wolters-kluwer-examines-the-federal-communications-commissions-proposal-to-restrict-federal-funding-for-companies-deemed-national-security-threats-300631477.html

SOURCE Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]