FCC Finally Makes Its Move

FCC's 2020 seal
(Image credit: FCC)

The FCC said it has officially moved its headquarters from The Portals at 445 12th St. SW in Washington to 45 L St. NE. 

The new address is closer to Congress and the headquarters of NCTA-The Internet & Television Association and almost next door to NPR, though the move was about saving money not sidling up to the Hill.

It is mostly a mailing and delivery address change for the near term since most FCC staffers continue to work from home during the pandemic.

That will make it something of a hard boot, with staffers exiting The Portals to work from home, but returning to a new office.

The FCC said that the move does not affect the current COVID-19-driven prohibition on the hand-delivery of documents to its headquarters.

It continues to encourage filers to use its electronic comment filing system (ECFS).

The FCC signaled under former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler back in 2015 that it was moving out of the Portals when its lease expired, a move that would cost about $50 million in the short term but save over $100 million over the life of a new lease. 

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.