Federal Communications Commission
FCC is the abbreviation for Federal Communications Commission. It is an independent government agency of the United States established under the Communications Act of 1934. The FCC has been given the responsibility to monitor the interstate and international communications which include television radio, satellite, wire and cable. The jurisdiction of FCC includes all the 50 states including the District of Columbia and areas, which are under the possession of US.[1]
History of FCC
The United States Federal Communications Commission was created by an act of Congress passed on 19 June 1934. It was created during US President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ‘The New Deal’ era and was granted a large latitude to establish a fast, Nation-wide, and world-wide wire and radio communication service. The main motive behind formation of the FCC was to merge the administrative responsibilities of regulating broadcasting and wired communications into one single agency. The actual working of FCC started on 11 July 1934 when seven commissioners and 233 federal employees started the task of merging procedures and rules from several governmental agencies such as the Interstate Commerce Commission, Federal Radio Commission and the Postmaster General into a single agency. Today, the FCC employs approximately 1900 people and has comprehensive responsibilities in various fields of communication technologies such as microwave, satellite and private radio communications. [2]
Organization of FCC
The FCC is governed by five Commissioners. These commissioners are appointed directly by the President and are ratified by the Senate. These commissioners are mostly appointed for 5-year terms unless there is a filling of an unexpired term. The President also elects the Chairperson of the FCC from one of these commissioners. The Chairperson is also known as the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission and is responsible in delegating administrative and management responsibilities to the Managing Director of the Commission. All the five Commissioners are assigned with the task of supervising all the activities of the FCC, which also include delegating responsibilities to the various staff units and Bureaus of FCC.[1]
Functions of FCC
As mentioned earlier, the main role of FCC is to regulate the various mediums of communications. Apart from these, the FCC also carries out various functions which mainly include[3]:
- Enforcing and maintaining the laws related to Communications such as the Communications Act
- Advise the US commission on various issues related to communication businesses
- Represent the US commission in various international matters pertaining to communications and satellite
- Frame policies concerning the communication businesses
- Preside over the legal matters pertaining to communication
- Frame policies related to the functioning of telephone companies and also of the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers
Strategic plan of FCC (2009-2014)
The strategic plan of FCC for 2009-2014 mainly focuses on making communication services accessible to general public. It is mostly designed towards providing communications products and services to consumers and businesses on a timely basis and at reasonable costs.[4]
Strategic goals of FCC
Some of the strategic goals of FCC include the following[4]:
- Promotion of competition in the nation’s media regulations and ensure diversity in its functioning by providing necessary support in brining out a transition towards digital modes of delivery.
- Provide access to broadband products or services at an affordable rate to all Americans.
- Effective use of non-federal spectrum both domestically as well as internationally
- Provide communications facilities at the times of crises and emergencies to ensure public safety
- Modernize the FCC and make it an innovative organization