United States: Telecoms, Mobile & Cable Communications

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act prohibits certain types of “calls,” including telemarketing calls, to numbers listed on the national Do Not Call Registry. (This obligation lives at 47 USC § 227(c)(5).) The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) and, until recently, nearly all courts following the FCC have interpreted “calls” to include text messages.

The Federal Communications Commission has released a draft order proposing to eliminate the longstanding National Television Audience Reach Cap, which currently prevents entities from owning broadcast TV stations reaching more than 39% of U.S. households. This potential regulatory shift would replace the bright-line ownership limit with case-by-case public interest reviews of individual transactions, fundamentally changing how broadcast consolidation is evaluated in today's evolving media landscape.

The Federal Communications Commission has taken unprecedented enforcement action against a satellite operator for violating national security agreements, while simultaneously implementing sweeping new disclosure requirements for companies with foreign ownership. These developments signal a fundamental shift in how U.S. regulators monitor telecommunications infrastructure, creating significant compliance risks for businesses with international ties.

The Federal Communications Commission advances multiple regulatory proposals targeting national security concerns in telecommunications, including restrictions on entities identified on the Covered List and new equipment authorization requirements. Key developments include proposed exclusions from domestic Section 214 authority, enhanced cybersecurity controls for federal contractors handling Controlled Unclassified Information, and updated technical frameworks for satellite spectrum sharing.

Amendments to the Texas mini-TCPA significantly expanded its reach by requiring certain businesses to obtain a registration certificate from the Texas secretary of state. Against this backdrop, one recent decision is a useful reminder of the statute’s significant exemptions.

Over the past few months, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has taken a number of new steps to pursue what Chairman Brendan Carr first described in October 2025 as a “different approach” to illegal robocalls: targeting the problem “at every point of the call path” by placing more responsibility on voice service providers to police their networks and the traffic they accept from others.

The California Assembly has passed a constitutional amendment that could fundamentally reshape telecommunications and broadband regulation in the state by removing the current requirement that telephone and telegraph facilities...

The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau has opened a public comment period questioning whether ABC's daytime talk show The View qualifies as a bona fide news interview program...

The Federal Communications Commission faces mounting pressure to classify interconnected VoIP services as Title II telecommunications services, a move the industry has resisted for two decades.