SSI Plans Electronic Filing Effective Date

The FCC issued a Public Notice last week announcing the effective date for mandatory electronic filing of System Security and Integrity (“SSI”) plans.  In May, the Commission released an Order amending its rules to require electronic filing of new and updated SSI plans by covered entities under the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (“CALEA”).  All providers subject to CALEA must file their SSI Plans prior to commencing service and must re-file a complete updated SSI Plan within ninety days following any changes to previously filed information.  As of June 29, providers must file their SSI Plans in the new CALEA Electronic Filing System as paper copies will no longer be accepted. 

Fifth Circuit Grants En Banc Review of USF Contribution Case

Last week, the Fifth Circuit released an Order granting a petition for rehearing en banc of the challenge to the FCC’s authority to administer the Universal Service Fund.  In the Order, the Fifth Circuit noted that a member of the court polled the court on the petition and a majority of the circuit judges voted in favor for rehearing.  It also vacated a March decision by a three-judge panel rejecting the challenge to the FCC’s authority.  The date of the rehearing will be announced later. 

988 Outage Reporting R&O

The FCC will consider a Report and Order at its Open Meeting on July 20 that would implement reporting and notice requirements for service outages potentially affecting 988 special facilities (Vol. XX, Issue 5).  Specifically, the rules would require originating service providers and a new category of “covered 988 service providers” to report outages that potentially affect the 988 Lifeline to the Network Outage Reporting System (“NORS”).  They would also require providers to notify the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the 988 Lifeline administrator of any outage.  Under the proposed rules, an outage occurs when it potentially affects at least 900,000 user-minutes and lasts for at least thirty minutes. 

Broadband Data Collection Window Open

Last week, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing that the third Broadband Data Collection (“BDC”) filing window opened on July 3.  Facilities-based providers may begin filing data pertaining to where they make mass-market internet access service available as of June 30, 2023.  Such data must be submitted no later than September 1.  These entities, as well as providers of fixed voice services, must submit the subscription data required under Form 477 as of June 30, 2023, in the BDC system as well.