FCC Approves Rules to Speed Up Submarine Cable Deployments
By Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
June 25, 2026
June 25, 2026 — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today approved new rules designed to speed up the rollout of undersea internet cables in the United States.
The decision, made unanimously, aims to modernize aging regulations and help the nation’s digital infrastructure keep pace with the massive computing and connectivity demands of rising artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
The core of the new policy cuts down on bureaucratic delays for trusted telecom companies, the FCC said in a June 25 release.
Currently, every undersea cable application must undergo a rigorous, often lengthy review by “Team Telecom,” an executive branch task force that screens projects for national security risks. Under the new rules, companies with a clean safety record that certify to strict security standards will be exempt from this mandatory referral, a shift the FCC says will “increase certainty, predictability, and faster timelines” for expansion.
While the rules accelerate deployment, they also introduce tighter regulation on other fronts to address growing cybersecurity concerns. To mitigate vulnerabilities, the FCC is establishing a new licensing requirement for owners of submarine line terminal equipment (SLTE)—the critical onshore hardware where deep-sea cables plug into the domestic grid.
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