President Obama’s recent executive order on regulation requires, among other things, that agencies develop a process for reviewing their existing regulations to determine whether they should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed. Although the President’s order doesn’t directly apply to the FCC, which is an independent agency, Section 11 of the Communications Act already requires the FCC to determine biennially whether its regulations should be repealed or modified. Despite these requirements, enacted with good intentions, the reality is that outdated regulations never die.
There are numerous examples of outdated wireless regulations that are still in the books collecting dust. For example, Section 22.901 of the FCC’s rules provides that, until February 18, 2008, “Part 22” cellular systems were required to maintain the capability to provide compatible analog service. The relevant date for the transition from analog to digital technology passed nearly three years ago, but the rule remains.
Another example is Rule 22.947, which governed the initial buildout of the first cellular systems. Those systems have long been built and the rule has outlived its usefulness, but the rule remains.
These are just a few examples of FCC regulations that have outlived their usefulness. Rule 20.6 sunset in 2003, the resale obligations in Rule 20.12 sunset in 2002, and so on.
At a minimum, outdated regulations make compliance more complex. At their worst, i.e., when regulations are still effective but no longer necessary, outdated regulations increase costs and adversely affect competition with no discernable benefit to the public interest. It’s not glamorous work and it won’t make headlines, but the FCC would better serve the public interest if it periodically reviewed its rules and eliminated those that have long outlived their usefulness.
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mobile telecommunications wireless