Senate Passes Bill Calling Scrutinizing Ownership of FCC Licensees

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24, 2025 – The Senate passed on Thursday a bill that would require the Federal Communications Commission to publish a list of licensees with financial ties to China and other countries deemed security threats by U.S. lawmakers. The House passed a very similar version of the bill in April.

The Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act would give the FCC 120 days to publish a list of companies that hold wireless or subsea cable licenses and have a level of covered country ownership that’s required to be reported to the agency. That threshold is usually 10 percent.

Covered countries include China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The bill would also direct the agency to initiate a rulemaking to collect ownership information on other FCC authorization holders.