The FCC Affected By the Federal Government Shutdown

Federal Government Shutdown:
After the Republicans in office rejected President Barack Obama's healthcare plan, Obamacare; the government has experience its first government shutdown in 17 years at the start of October (1). What does this mean for the Communications Act of 1934, plenty. The shutdown has deactivated all government services that are considered nonessential. What they feel is essential is police, fire fighting, armed forces, utilities and correctional officers (2). What this spells for the Communications Act of 1934 is the shutdown of the organization it created, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

FCC Shutdown:

The Federal Government-wide shutdown has marginalized the FCC's duties. The FCC is only to perform duties that are necessary for the safety of life or the protection of property. With the Federal Government shut down up in the air, the FCC's return to its regular function is indefinite. Telecommunications companies now have to turn to the Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) (3).

Services that the FCC usually provide but are now shutdown include the following: consumer protection, local competition, licensing services, and new electronic devices being produced to the general public (4).

FCC Workplace While Shutdown:
What this means for employees of the FCC. Workers have to get in shutdown mode, secure working area and cancel all plans such as flights or FCC sponsored events. 1,716 employees (98%) will be sent home and not working during the shutdown after they have already performed their final task. Only 38 workers (2%) of the people working at the FCC will still be operating under the FCC performing duties that are considered essential to the government (4).

Why the FCC is important:
Even though the Communications Act of 1934 has created a strong organization that has been shaped over the years to handle today's communication, the FCC finds itself shutdown and only providing duties related to security. The FCC provides many functions that's important for the nation in terms of consumerism, the nations economy, and technology advancements. It's one of those things that plays a a detrimental role to our nation, and one would hope that the Federal Government-wide shut down ends sooner than later so the FCC could get back to performing its original functions.

Sources:

1. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/01/us-usa-fiscal-idUSBRE98N11220131001

2. http://www.google.com/#q=what+is+the+government+shutdown
3. http://www.fcc.gov/shutdown-page.html
4. http://www.fcc.gov/Plan-for-Orderly-Shutdown-September-2013.pdf

The FCC's Bureau's and Offices

The FCC today is comprised of 7 bureaus and 11 offices. The bureaus under the FCC manage a variety of things from helping consumers, to enforcing regulations with the Communication Act of 1934 and to oversee issues concerning relationships with the media. Offices inside the FCC work to help the organization function in a way where it can fulfill the obligations the Communications Act of 1934 set out for it (1).

The Consumer and Governmental Affairs is one of seven bureaus of the FCC. It works to develop and install consumer polices for the disabled and tribal nations. To ensure that they continue to serve them effectively they form close relationships with local, state, and tribal governments (1).

The Enforcement Bureau protects consumers by promoting competition. Competition is what controls prices of technology. Competition also helps improve the quality and services of technology. This bureau is responsible for enforcing the Communication Act and rules and regulations of the FCC (1).

The International Bureau focuses on international telecommunications and satellite programs. In addition, they  manage satellite programs, licensing and regulatory functions (1).

The Media Bureau is responsible for overseeing everything that goes through the media. It manages issues with broad radio and television licensing. It also manages media services such as cable and satellite TV (1).

The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau is crucial to public safety. Their mission is to assist the general public and all levels of public when things like natural disasters and terrorist attacks occur. By creating emergency responses they hope to strengthen public safety (1).

The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau serves as administration when it comes to wireless telecommunications. They regulate programs, licensing and polices; when it coms to communications services (1).

The seventh and final bureau is one that has expanded over the past decade, the Wireline Competition. Their duty is to set guidelines for wireline telecommunications. They provide wireline companies with policy goals, objectives, programs, and plans to implement them all (1).

Those seven bureaus help regulate the FCC to keep it functional. However, in addition to those the FCC is made up of 11 offices to assist with legal policies, business and technological advance, and to maintain the diversity in the FCC workplace. The 11 offices in the FCC include the office of: Administrative Law Judges, Communication Business Opportunities, Engineering and Technology, the General Counsel, the Inspector General, Legislative Affairs, Managing Director, Media Relations, Secretary, Strategic Planning and Policy, and Workplace Diversity (1).

All of the bureaus and offices included under the FCC are what helps the organization operate in today's society and oversee communication.

Sources:
1. (http://www.fcc.gov/bureaus-offices)