A court agrees with the FCC that China Telecom was premature in asking the court to review the FCC's initiation of license revocation proceedings.

That FCC asked the court to dismiss the China Telecom request as premature since license revocation proceedings had not concluded so there was not final agency action to challenge.

A three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Court unanimously agreed, saying it could only exercise its jurisdiction over such final action and the FCC order in question is "neither a final agency action nor an appealable interlocutory or collateral order.

China Telecom can go back to the court when the FCC action is final.

Also Read: FCC Tells Court to Deny China Telecom Appeal

On the recommendation of other executive branch agencies, the Trump FCC under chairman Ajit Pai a year ago launched the process by asking China Telecom to demonstrate why it should not have its license revoked.

China Telecom responded, but the FCC was unpersuaded and began the official revocation proceeding, asking the executive branch agencies to provide written comments on what it thought of China Telecom's response. Their initial view of the company was that there were "substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks associated with [China Telecom’s] continued access to U.S. telecommunications infrastructure."

China Telecom appealed the FCC order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, saying that the revocation proceeding should be conducted via a more formal hearing or in-person hearing before an administrative law judge, rather than through the dueling written comments.

Also Read: FCC Flags More Chinese Telecoms

The FCC under Pai's successor, acting chairwoman Rosenworcel, defended the license revocation process.

The FCC has pointed out that it can always decide to add supplemental processes, presumably including in-person queries or more formal inquiry after it reviews the full comment record.”

The FCC has eliminated its 75-year-old rules that prohibited TV or FM radio licenses to people or organizations that control an antenna site. The FCC ruled that “these rules no longer serve any practical purpose in light of the significant broadcast infrastructure development.”

In its Wednesday ruling, which removed the item from the agenda of Thursday’s open meeting (Aug. 6), the FCC emphasized that the plan, first proposed last October, is part of the agency’s “Modernization of Media Regulation Initiative.” The FCC's decision repeatedly emphasized its goal to remove “outdated and unnecessary requirements.” It pointed out that the agency received very limited objection to the proposal. It noted that the 1945 rules “apply only in extremely limited circumstances.”

“No broadcaster claims that these rules are needed to secure access to suitable sites,” the FCC said, citing the “current trend toward co-location of communications towers on antenna farms and the widespread availability of tower capacity … from numerous tower companies.” The ruling also acknowledged that times change.

“These rules were adopted 75 years ago, at a time when FM and TV broadcasting were emerging industries, and the need to preserve materials for the U.S. military effort in World War II had led the commission to freeze new broadcast station construction,” the FCC’s decision noted nostalgically.

Since the original rule was intended to prevent broadcasters/tower owners from discriminating against competitor stations, the FCC pointed out that nowadays the communications tower market is dominated by entities that do not hold broadcast licenses. Moreover, the ruling said, there is no indication that broadcast lessees “have the intent or ability to restrict these tower owners from denying access to … competitors.”

The FCC concluded that, “Retaining a rule that has little if any applicability to the current broadcast landscape … risks wasting Commission time and resources, as well as the resources of broadcast license holders, on unnecessary adjudications.” It noted that no broadcast industry organizations filed comments in this proceeding, deeming that, “It is in the public interest to eliminate these outdated rules.”

In a different sector but continuing its deregulatory binge, the FCC on Wednesday also eliminated three “outdated” Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) rules. The commission ruled that “changes in technology and voice communications services” the 1991 rules (adopted one year after the Americans With Disabilities Act went into effect are no longer necessary. In particular the eliminated rules involved criterion for selecting a long-distance carrier, for alternative billing options (such as collect or credit cards calling) and for administrative requirements for public notices of state TRS programs.

President Donald Trump has ordered the review and possible revocation of the applications for, or sales of, FCC licenses, but it has nothing to do with the President's view of media outlets or his legal team's threats against TV station owners. 

Trump issued an executive order Saturday (April 4) establishing the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector. 

Related: FCC Denies China Mobile Interconnect 

The committee's aim is to help keep the telecommunications sector secure from foreign threats to national security, including by revoking existing licenses if necessary. The new committee will be chaired by Attorney General William Barr and funded by the Department of Justice. 

The committee will make recommendations to the FCC on whether it should "dismiss an application, deny an application, condition the grant of an application upon compliance with mitigation measures, modify a license with a condition of compliance with mitigation measures, or revoke a license." 

The committee will comprise Barr, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and any other head of an agency or an assistant to the President and Trump's discretion. It will be authorized to collect info from applicants to help with that review. That info can't be disclosed outside the committee and committee advisers. 

Related: FCC Sets Deadlines for Foreign-Owned Media Outlet Reports

Advisers to the committee will include the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, the United States Trade Representative, the director of National Intelligence, the administrator of General Services, the assistant to the president for National Security Affairs, the Assistant to the president for Economic Policy, the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. 

The FCC will refer applications to the committee for review. If the committee determines that granting a license does  not raise a risk to national security or law enforcement, it will tell the FCC so. It has 120 days to make a recommendation from the time applicant responses to committee questions are complete. That is, unless it says it needs to further evaluate the application, in which case it gets another 90 days to make a recommendation. 

Related: Russian Television Says It Has Registered As Foreign Agent

The committee can also review existing licenses, but that will take a majority vote of the committee. For any license reviewed, existing or applied for, the Director of National Intelligence will provide a written threat assessment. The director has 30 days to provide that assessment from when the committee has gotten all the answers it requested from an applicant or from when the chair seeks such an assessment. 

“I applaud the President for formalizing Team Telecom review and establishing a process that will allow the Executive Branch to provide its expert input to the FCC in a timely manner, "said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. "Now that this Executive Order has been issued, the FCC will move forward to conclude our own pending rulemaking on reform of the foreign ownership review process. As we demonstrated last year in rejecting the China Mobile application, this FCC will not hesitate to act to protect our networks from foreign threats. At the same time, we welcome beneficial investment in our networks and believe that this Executive Order will allow us to process such applications more quickly.”

“Releasing the strategy is an important step toward building out secure, trusted 5G networks across the United States," said 5G Action Chairman Mike Rogers. "Providing certainty for businesses and coordinating nationwide efforts will go a long way to helping driving American innovation and investment.”