Call Home Act of 2006
Key claim: Congress directed the FCC to lower overseas calling costs for deployed U.S. troops without setting rates, and required the Commerce Department to award at least $1 billion in public-safety radio interoperability grants by September 30, 2007.
Abstract
(S2653 · 109th Congress) Call Home Act of 2006 - Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to to reduce the cost of calling home for military personnel stationed or deployed outside the United States in support of military operations, training exercises, or other purposes approved by the Secretary of Defense. Prohibits the FCC from regulating rates in order to carry out this Act. Amends the Telecommunications Authorization Act of 1992 to repeal current FCC cost reduction authority with respect to personnel stationed or deployed in specified countries. Requires the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to award at least $1 billion for public safety interoperable communications grants by September 30, 2007. Latest action (2006-12-22): Became Public Law No: 109-459.
Why this matters
The Call Home Act of 2006 illustrates how Congress bundled two unrelated telecom priorities—cheaper overseas calls for deployed service members and a hard funding deadline for interoperable public-safety radios—into one enacted law. For consumers (military families) it created an expectation of lower international rates via FCC-carrier coordination rather than rate regulation, while for state and local first responders it accelerated federal spending on radio systems that could talk across agencies.