At its October open meeting, the Federal Communications Commission announced a notice of proposed rulemaking that considers ways to facilitate foreign investment in the telecommunications industry, including in broadcast media, a sector in which foreign ownership has been actively discouraged because of the potential for foreign influences on the content of broadcast transmissions.
The NPRM does not explicitly propose changes to the “Team Telecom” process (i.e., the often protracted and intrusive executive branch review of foreign investment in the telecommunications industry for law enforcement and national security issues), but it does signal the FCC’s openness to changes that would reduce or eliminate barriers to foreign ownership without compromising national security, law enforcement, or other policy goals.