SECURE American Telecommunications Act

The SECURE American Telecommunications Act would overhaul how the United States licenses and protects submarine cables and cross-border terrestrial telecommunications cables. It shifts licensing authority for submarine cables from the President to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and extends similar licensing and security requirements to terrestrial cables that connect the U.S. to foreign countries. The bill would require minimum security and physical defense standards for cables and landing stations, mandate rapid incident reporting in the event of cybersecurity risk, and create a framework for interagency cooperation on security and environmental matters. It also introduces new permitting processes (via the Army Corps) and preempts certain state and local environmental reviews in order to accelerate submarine cable projects, while expanding penalties for harm to cables and creating a pathway for international security standards with allied countries. In addition, the measure mandates reporting to national security and intelligence bodies about cybersecurity incidents tied to foreign actors, seeks to establish protection zones for cables, and requires the United States to pursue an international security agreement on shared minimum standards with certain allied nations. It also directs a study on the feasibility of submarine cable protection zones and requires the U.S. to join the International Cable Protection Committee. Overall, the bill significantly tightens security, transparency, and coordination for submarine and cross-border cable infrastructure, while potentially broadening the regulatory footprint and expediting some permitting processes.