Submarine Cable National Security & Law Enforcement Conditions

Current understanding

To be populated as evidence accumulates.

2026-02-10 — Critical Undersea Infrastructure Resilience Initiative Act: cross-connection with critical-undersea-infrastructure-resilience: Both address protection of undersea communications and energy infrastructure; the resilience initiative complements FCC/executive branch submarine cable licensing conditions. (novelty: 3)
2026-07-27 — Review of Submarine Cable Landing License Rules and Procedures To Assess Evolving National Security, Law Enforcement, Foreign Policy, and Trade Policy Risks: FCC Second Report and Order establishes a new licensing and reporting regime for submarine line terminal equipment (SLTE) owners/operators, adds national-security routine conditions and certifications, and creates a presumptive exemption from Executive Branch (Team Telecom) referral for applications meeting ten enumerated national security standards, intended to speed cable deployment while preserving security review for higher-risk cases. (novelty: 3)