Connect America Fund, Alaska Connect Fund, ETC Annual Reports and Certifications, Telecommunications Carriers Eligible To Receive Universal Service Support, Universal Service Reform-Mobility Fund

<RULE> FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION <CFR>47 CFR Parts 36, 51, and 54</CFR> <DEPDOC>[WC Docket Nos. 10-90, 23-328, 14-58, 09-197; WT Docket No. 10-208; FCC 23-87; FR ID 204795]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Connect America Fund, Alaska Connect Fund, ETC Annual Reports and Certifications, Telecommunications Carriers Eligible To Receive Universal Service Support, Universal Service Reform—Mobility Fund</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Federal Communications Commission. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) adopts a Report and Order (Order) amending existing rules and requirements governing the management and administration of the Commission's Universal Service Fund (USF) high-cost program. The modifications adopted in the Order streamline processes, align timelines, and refine certain rules to more precisely address specific situations experienced by carriers. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Effective May 10, 2024, except for the amendments to §§ 36.4 (amendatory instruction 2), 54.205 (amendatory instruction 7), 54.313 (amendatory instruction 10), 54.314 (amendatory instruction 11), 54.316 (amendatory instruction 13), 54.903 (amendatory instruction 18), and 54.1306 (amendatory instruction 22), which are delayed indefinitely. The Commission will publish a document in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> announcing the effective date. </EFFDATE> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> For further information, please contact, Nissa Laughner, Attorney Advisor, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, at <E T="03">Nissa.Laughner@fcc.gov</E> or 202-418-7400. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> This is a summary of the Commission's Order in WC Docket Nos. 10-90, 23-328, 14-58, 09-197 and WT Docket No. 10-208; FCC 23-87, adopted on October 19, 2023, and released on October 20, 2023, with an Erratum issued by the Wireline Competition Bureau on Feb. 13, 2024. The full text of this document is available at the following internet address: <E T="03">https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-23-87A1.pdf.</E> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Adopting High-Cost Program Administrative Improvements</HD> 1. The Commission adopts its proposal to revise § 54.313(i) of its rules to streamline the process for submitting annual high-cost information and certifications by requiring that such filings be made only with the universal service program administrator, <E T="03">i.e.,</E> the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). Currently, this rule requires high-cost support recipients to file this information with the Commission, with USAC, and with the relevant state commission or relevant authority in a U.S. Territory, or Tribal government, as appropriate, resulting in redundant and unnecessary administrative burdens on high-cost support recipients. In addition to relieving recipients of these burdens, this rule change is warranted because the Commission can take advantage of technological advances to make this information more readily available to all interested parties by using the benefits of a centralized, online collection of information and improving access and records management. Several commenters support this change, and the Nebraska Public Service Commission asks the Commission to ensure that states retain full access to the annual reports. The Commission agrees that states should retain full access to the annual reports and it directs USAC to continue to provide access to this information to the States, U.S. Territories, and Tribal governments electronically via links to the data on USAC's website. Accordingly, the Commission finds that modifying § 54.313(i) of its rules to limit submission of the annual high-cost report to USAC is well warranted. 2. The Commission similarly adopts its proposal to revise § 54.314 of its rules to require states that desire Eligible Telecommunication Carriers (ETCs) to receive high-cost support and ETCs not subject to state jurisdiction to file annual reports with USAC only, rather than both USAC and the Commission's Office of the Secretary (OSEC). Several commenters support this modification, and none opposes. The Commission notes that its staff coordinates routinely with USAC, so this modification should have no impact on its ability to review and monitor these filings as part of its program oversight. The Wireless internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) supports this modification but only if reports are made publicly available so that funding recipients can ensure that the certification has been received and can demonstrate this to third parties, such as potential investors. The Commission finds that WISPA's request is reasonable. The Commission thus modifies its rules to require the submission of annual certifications under § 54.314 of the Commission's rules with USAC only and commit to making this information publicly available. 3. Third, the Commission adopts its proposal to more closely align support reductions with an ETC's failure to certify by the deadlines established in its rules. Current rules provide that support reductions do not occur until January of the year following the year when the ETC misses a reporting deadline. The revised rules the Commission adopts in this document will instead reduce support in the month immediately following the notice of support reduction to the eligible telecommunications carrier from USAC or as soon as feasible thereafter. Because support reductions are based on the number of days late, and payments usually occur mid-month, in situations where a filing is not received in time for USAC to calculate the requisite support reduction for the next month's payment, USAC will implement the support reduction as soon as feasible. No commenter opposes this change and CTIA—The Wireless Association (CTIA) agrees that requiring USAC to implement late filing support reductions more promptly by reducing support in the month immediately following the issuance of a notice of support reduction or as soon as feasible immediately thereafter avoids confusion and improves accountability. 4. The Commission modifies the reporting requirements for performance testing to require all high-cost support recipients serving fixed locations to report and certify performance testing results on a quarterly basis, rather than annually. High-cost support recipients must perform broadband performance testing one week out of each quarter. All high-cost support recipients, including those that are in compliance with speed and latency requirements, will be required to report and certify the results of the performance tests quarterly rather than annually. This modification will allow the Commission to better assess whether carriers are on track to meeting the Commission's performance measures requirements and to determine whether there are significant problems with a carrier's network that may interfere with consumer service. The Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) will continue to assess compliance with program requirements based on the annual testing results ( <E T="03">i.e.,</E> annual calculations), and carriers found not compliant will have support withheld until the carrier achieves a full quarter of compliance. No commenter opposes this modification, and NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association (NTCA) supports quarterly certification of performance test results for all high-cost support recipients, stating that reporting and certifying a carrier's performance testing results on a quarterly basis so the burden is minimal while also ensuring access to results enhances the Commission's oversight. 5. Carriers are required to report and certify locations in the High Cost Universal Broadband portal (HUBB) by March 1st annually but some carriers may not have reported locations when scheduled to begin performance pre-testing or testing. As a result, the Commission recognizes that certification of HUBB locations on March 1st may impede the carrier's ability to complete some of its testing. In these circumstances, the Bureau may exercise discretion when assessing the scope of a carrier's compliance or when implementing support withholdings. 6. Currently, the Commission requires quarterly reporting of carriers' pre-testing data, reflecting the results of tests conducted prior to the commencement of the official test period. Those quarterly testing results must be reported and certified within one week after the end of the quarter in which the tests are conducted, to provide insight into carriers' experience with the testing process. The Commission adopts a similar schedule of quarterly reporting filings for all high-cost carriers' testing. Once effective, all high-cost carriers will be required to report and certify their quarterly performance testing results within two weeks, rather than within one week, after the end of the quarter in which the tests are conducted. The Commission provides two weeks to offset the fact that, for administrative ease, it declines to adopt any grace period: first quarter testing results will be due April 15th, second quarter results will be due July 15th, third quarter results will be due October 15th, and fourth quarter results will be due January 15th. The Commission directs the Bureau to announce when quarterly reporting and certification will go into effect. 7. The Commission believes that establishing a specific reporting schedule will provide certainty, promote accountability, and conform with timelines for other testing protocols to minimize confusion. Given that carriers will be certifying locations quarterly, support withholding for non-compliance may be implemented sooner than when reports were due by July 1st annually. This will ensure that t ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 121k characters. 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