Review of Submarine Cable Landing License Rules and Procedures To Assess Evolving National Security, Law Enforcement, Foreign Policy, and Trade Policy Risks

What it does

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) adopted a Second Report and Order that promotes the deployment of submarine cables while strengthening national security interests in connection with their modern capabilities. The Second Report and Order establishes a regulatory regime for licensing owners and/or operators of submarine line terminal equipment (SLTE), including granting a blanket license to certain current and future SLTE owners and/or operators that are not currently a licensee. The Second Report and Order adopts certain routine conditions and outlines reporting requirements for SLTE owners and operators. The Second Report and Order also adopts further national security-related routine conditions and certification requirements. Finally, the Second Report and Order adopts an approach to expedite submarine cable deployment by presumptively exempting applications that meet ten national security standards from Commission referral to the Executive Branch agencies.

The Federal Communications Commission's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

2 parts of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

47 CFR 0, 47 CFR 1

Compared with

The Federal Communications Commission has published 57 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 78 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

What happens next and when

Effective date: These rules are effective September 25, 2026, except for amendatory instructions 4 (Sec. 1.40001), 5 (Sec. 1.40001), 8 (Sec. 1.70003), 9 (Sec. 1.70006), 11 (Sec. 1.70007(u), (w)(2), (y) through (ii)), 12 (Sec. 1.70011), 13 (Sec. 1.70012), 14 (Sec. 1.70014), 15 (Sec. 1.70017), 16 (Sec. 1.70018), 17 (Sec. 1.70020), 18 (Sec. 1.70025), 19 (Sec. 1.70026), 20 (Sec. 1.70027), 21 (Sec. 1.70028), and 22 (Sec. 1.70029), which are delayed indefinitely. The Commission will publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of these rule sections.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Title 47 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register