U.S. Code » Title 47 » Chapter CHAPTER 5— WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATION › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER III— SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO RADIO › Part Part I— General Provisions

47 U.S.C. § 310

License ownership restrictions

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(a) Grant to or holding by foreign government or representative

The station license required under this chapter shall not be granted to or held by any foreign government or the representative thereof.

(b) Grant to or holding by alien or representative, foreign corporation, etc.No broadcast or common carrier or aeronautical en route or aeronautical fixed radio station license shall be granted to or held by—(1) any alien or the representative of any alien;(2) any corporation organized under the laws of any foreign government;(3) any corporation of which more than one-fifth of the capital stock is owned of record or voted by aliens or their representatives or by a foreign government or representative thereof or by any corporation organized under the laws of a foreign country;(4) any corporation directly or indirectly controlled by any other corporation of which more than one-fourth of the capital stock is owned of record or voted by aliens, their representatives, or by a foreign government or representative thereof, or by any corporation organized under the laws of a foreign country, if the Commission finds that the public interest will be served by the refusal or revocation of such license.(c) Authorization for aliens licensed by foreign governments; multilateral or bilateral agreement to which United States and foreign country are parties as prerequisite

In addition to amateur station licenses which the Commission may issue to aliens pursuant to this chapter, the Commission may issue authorizations, under such conditions and terms as it may prescribe, to permit an alien licensed by his government as an amateur radio operator to operate his amateur radio station licensed by his government in the United States, its possessions, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico provided there is in effect a multilateral or bilateral agreement, to which the United States and the alien’s government are parties, for such operation on a reciprocal basis by United States amateur radio operators. Other provisions of this chapter and of subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5 shall not be applicable to any request or application for or modification, suspension, or cancellation of any such authorization.

(d) Assignment and transfer of construction permit or station license

No construction permit or station license, or any rights thereunder, shall be transferred, assigned, or disposed of in any manner, voluntarily or involuntarily, directly or indirectly, or by transfer of control of any corporation holding such permit or license, to any person except upon application to the Commission and upon finding by the Commission that the public interest, convenience, and necessity will be served thereby. Any such application shall be disposed of as if the proposed transferee or assignee were making application under section 308 of this title for the permit or license in question; but in acting thereon the Commission may not consider whether the public interest, convenience, and necessity might be served by the transfer, assignment, or disposal of the permit or license to a person other than the proposed transferee or assignee.

(e) Administration of regional concentration rules for broadcast stations(1) In the case of any broadcast station, and any ownership interest therein, which is excluded from the regional concentration rules by reason of the savings provision for existing facilities provided by the First Report and Order adopted March 9, 1977 (docket No. 20548; 42 Fed. Reg. 16145), the exclusion shall not terminate solely by reason of changes made in the technical facilities of the station to improve its service.(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term “regional concentration rules” means the provisions of sections 73.35, 73.240, and 73.636 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect June 1, 1983), which prohibit any party from directly or indirectly owning, operating, or controlling three broadcast stations in one or several services where any two of such stations are within 100 miles of the third (measured city-to-city), and where there is a primary service contour overlap of any of the stations.(June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title III, § 310, 48 Stat. 1086; July 16, 1952, ch. 879, § 8, 66 Stat. 716; Pub. L. 85–817, § 2, Aug. 28, 1958, 72 Stat. 981; Pub. L. 88–313, § 2, May 28, 1964, 78 Stat. 202; Pub. L. 92–81, § 2, Aug. 10, 1971, 85 Stat. 302; Pub. L. 93–505, § 2, Nov. 30, 1974, 88 Stat. 1576; Pub. L. 98–214, § 7, Dec. 8, 1983, 97 Stat. 1469; Pub. L. 101–396, § 8(b), Sept. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 850; Pub. L. 104–104, title IV, § 403(k), Feb. 8, 1996, 110 Stat. 131.)Editorial NotesReferences in Text

This chapter, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (c), was in the original “this Act”, meaning act June 19, 1934, ch. 652, 48 Stat. 1064, known as the Communications Act of 1934, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 609 of this title and Tables.

Codification

In subsec. (c), “subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5” substituted for “the Administrative Procedure Act” on authority of Pub. L. 89–554, § 7(b), Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 631, the first section of which enacted Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

Amendments

1996—Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 104–104, § 403(k)(1), struck out “of which any officer or director is an alien or” before “of which more”.

Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 104–104, § 403(k)(2), struck out “of which any officer or more than one-fourth of the directors are aliens, or” after “any other corporation”.

1990—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 101–396 substituted “multilateral or bilateral agreement, to which the United States and the alien’s government are parties,” for “bilateral agreement between the United States and the alien’s government”.

1983—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 98–214 added subsec. (e).

1974—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 93–505 added subsec. (a). Former subsec. (a), which related to granting to or holding of required station licenses by aliens, was struck out.

Subsecs. (b) to (d). Pub. L. 93–505 added subsecs. (b) and (c) and redesignated former subsec. (b) as (d).

1971—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 92–81 inserted provisions empowering the Commission to issue licenses to certain aliens admitted to the United States for permanent residence, provided that the Commission notify the appropriate agencies of the Government of applications received for license, and that such agencies furnish to the Commission information bearing on the request’s compatibility with national security.

1964—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 88–313 empowered the Commission to issue authorizations to permit an alien licensed by his government as an amateur radio operator to operate his station, licensed by his government, in the United States, its possessions, and Puerto Rico, provided there is a bilateral agreement between the United States and the alien’s government giving similar rights to United States amateur radio operators, and provided that the Commission notify appropriate agencies of our Government of any applications for authorization, and that such agencies furnish to the Commission information bearing on the request’s compatibility with our national security.

1958—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 85–817 inserted paragraph authorizing the grant of licenses for radio stations on aircraft to aliens or representatives of aliens holding pilot certificates.

1952—Subsec. (b). Act July 16, 1952, provided that construction permits and station licenses cannot be transferred, assigned, or disposed of except upon a finding by the Commission that public interest, convenience, or necessity will be served thereby, and that such transfer application will be treated the same as if made under section 308 of this title.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 113 cases (8 in the last 5 years), 1937–2025 · leading case: NTCH, Inc. v. Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n, 841 F.3d 497 (D.C. Cir. 2016).
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NTCH, Inc. v. Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n, 841 F.3d 497 (D.C. Cir. 2016). · cites it 4× “47 U.S.C. § 310 (d). “Spectrum” is “[t]he range of electromagnetic radio frequencies used in the transmission of sound, data, and television,” and is crucial to cell -phone companies.”
Airadigm Commc'ns, Inc. v. Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n, 519 F.3d 640 (7th Cir. 2008). · cites it 2× “” 47 U.S.C. § 310 (d). Even then, the Commission will only approve the transfer “upon finding .”
Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n v. WNCN Listeners Guild, 450 U.S. 582 (1981). · cites it 2× “" Title 47 U. S. C. § 310 (a) provides in part: "No construction permit or station license, or any rights thereunder shall be transferred, assigned, or disposed of in any manner, voluntarily or involuntarily, directly or indirectly, or by transfer of control of any corporation…”
Gene A. Folden, Coastal Commc'ns Assocs., & Judith A. Longshore v. United States, 379 F.3d 1344 (Fed. Cir. 2004). “4 RSAs were dismissed, for example, because their percentage of foreign ownership exceeded the then-applicable statutory limits as set forth in 47 U.S.C. § 310 (b)(1), (3) and 47 C.F.R.”
United States v. Storer Broad. Co., 351 U.S. 192 (1956). · cites it 2× “702: " Petition for amendment or waiver of rules. Any interested person may petition for issuance, amendment, repeal or waiver of any rule or regulation.”
Bob Deuell v. Texas Right to Life Comm., Inc., 508 S.W.3d 679 (Tex. App. 2016). “); see also 47 U.S.C. § 310 (d) (prohibiting transfer of licensing or control except by application to FCC).”
Huawei Tech USA v. FCC, 2 F.4th 421 (5th Cir. 2021). “52 See also 47 U.S.C. § 310 (providing the Commission may refuse or revoke certain licenses in the “public interest” if a corporation is “directly or indirectly controlled” by a foreign government or a foreign corporation); Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Supply…”
Tracy Broad. Corp. v. Spectrum Scan, LLC, 696 F.3d 1051 (10th Cir. 2012). · cites it 4× “47 U.S.C. § 310 (d). Because of this provision, reasoned the court, the only security interest in the license that Tracy Broadcasting could convey was a “right to receive proceeds upon an FCC-approved transfer of its license.”
Cherry v. Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n, 641 F.3d 494 (D.C. Cir. 2011). · cites it 3× “Pursuant to 47 U.S.C. § 310 (d), the receiver then sought approval from the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) for the involuntary assignment of nine radio broadcast licenses from Tama to the receiver.”
SBC Commc'ns Inc. v. Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n, 407 F.3d 1223 (D.C. Cir. 2005). “” 47 U.S.C. § 310 (d). The Commission approved the merger subject to conditions aimed at mitigating certain potential anti-competitive effects.”
Coalition for the Pres. of Hispanic Broad. v. Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n, Univision Holdings, Inc., Intervenors, 893 F.2d 1349 (D.C. Cir. 1990). · cites it 4× “The settlement agreement was approved after an ALJ determined that the stations in question were subject to the de facto control of an alien in violation of § 310(b)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. § 310 (b)(3) (1982). The principal question presented is whether…”
Alvin Lou Media, Inc. v. Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n, 571 F.3d 1 (D.C. Cir. 2009). “§ 308 (b), regarding an applicant’s “citizenship, character, and financial, technical, and other qualifications”; and 47 U.S.C. § 310 , which imposes restrictions on ownership by foreign governments and aliens.”
Show all 113 citing cases →
— 47 U.S.C. § 310(a) — 1 case
Nat'l Ass'n of Broadcasters v. FCC (D.C. Cir. 2025).
— 47 U.S.C. § 310(b) — 2 cases
Heitmeyer v. Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n, 95 F.2d 91 (D.C. Cir. 1937).
Greater Kampeska Radio Corp. v. Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n, 108 F.2d 5 (D.C. Cir. 1939).
— 47 U.S.C. § 310(d) — 2 cases
Centennial Broad., LLC v. Burns, 254 F. App'x 977 (4th Cir. 2007).
Ruiz v. Spanish Radio Network, 691 So. 2d 553 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997).
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