FCC Eliminates Foreign Competition Test For Certain International Telecommunications Authorization Applications

In an order released on April 22, 2014,¹ the Federal Communications Commission eliminated its longstanding requirement that certain applications for authorization to provide international telecommunications services or for international cable landing licenses must pass an effective competitive opportunities test ("ECO Test"), saying the Commission can continue to promote competition in international telecommunications markets using a less burdensome process applied on a case-by-case basis.

The ECO Test

The ECO Test was a set of criteria applied by the FCC to applications for entry into U.S. international telecommunications services markets by foreign carriers that possess market power on the foreign end of a telecommunications route that terminates in a country that is not a member of the World Trade Organization ("WTO"). The test was developed in response to concerns that foreign carriers with market power could use that power to benefit themselves or affiliates