PathFacts view /FCC & policy
FCC open meeting of October 29, 2026 passes; what it means for microwave paths
The FCC held its open meeting on October 29, 2026, and PathFacts' audit data frames what is at stake for licensed point-to-point microwave operators.
The FCC held an open meeting on October 29, 2026, as announced in a Sunshine Act notice published in the Federal Register. The notice is available at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/29/2026-22080/sunshine-act-meeting-open-commission-meeting-thursday-october-29-2026.
The context for operators is the size and condition of the licensed fixed microwave base. The PathFacts national path database, built from FCC ULS records, counts 147,153 licensed point-to-point microwave paths in service in the United States.
The PathFacts national LOS audit finds that 19.0% of those paths have a clearance or filing problem. A narrower group, 11.2% of US microwave paths, needs action: these are paths that are blocked, below design clearance, or show a probable filing error.
The context pack for this article does not include the meeting's agenda items or any outcomes from the session, so this report does not characterize what the Commission decided.
PathFacts view
Any Commission action touching fixed microwave, whether on licensing process, coordination, or spectrum sharing, lands on a path base that is not as clean as the ULS record suggests. When 11.2% of paths need action and 19.0% carry some clearance or filing problem, the licensing database and the physical reality of the links have drifted apart in a meaningful share of cases.
Our view is that operators should read any new rules through the lens of their own path records. Filing errors and clearance shortfalls matter more when a rule change invites closer scrutiny of existing licenses or of the data used for coordination. Operators who audit their own paths now will be better placed to respond to whatever follows from this meeting once the Commission's actions are published.