FCC To Speed Review For Foreign Owner Deals

The FCC is preparing to propose that a group of executive departments provide faster responses to the commission when reviewing mergers involving foreign ownership, according to a June 3 announcement.

According to bna.com, the agency plans to consider a notice of proposed rulemaking (IB Docket No. 16-155) expected to include a specific timeline by which agencies including the Defense, Justice and State departments—known as “Team Telecom”—would have to give recommendations to the FCC based on national security and trade concerns about whether to approve a merger, a commission spokesman said. The agency plans to take up the notice at its June 24 meeting.

The current Team Telecom review process is a veritable black box for applicants left wondering about the status of their proposed transactions. Applications passing through the executive agency review can take an average of 250 days to complete, well beyond the FCC's informal 180-day merger review “shot clock.”

“This is an area that could benefit significantly from additional streamlining, clarity and transparency,” said Ari Q. Fitzgerald, a partner with Hogan Lovells LLP's Communications Group and former deputy bureau chief in the FCC's International Bureau.

Netherlands-based Altice NV's proposed acquisition of U.S.-based Cablevision Systems Corp. was among the most recent merger reviews to be subject to a Team Telecom review. Federal law mandates license ownership restrictions on companies with direct or indirect foreign ownership above certain thresholds.

The agency's forthcoming proposal “seeks to make the process more predictable and transparent” for applicants, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a June 3 blog post.

Companies seeking authorizations and license transfers to offer international long distance calling, rulings to obtain or transfer wireless radio licenses, submarine cable landing licenses and satellite earth station authorizations may also be subject to Team Telecom reviews.