The FCC's USF/ICC Order established several new compliance reporting requirements, and set an April 1 deadline for these reports. One of the requirements involves a five-year plan that specifies how an eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) will improve and extend its service throughout all of its service area. Although the Order clearly states that an ETC must file a five-year plan by April 1, 2013, and report on its progress in following years, the Order raised questions as to what must be filed in the first report which is due on April 1, 2012. In this first report, the Order requires ETCs to file a progress report on its five-year plan, but it does not address situations in which ETCs had never filed such a plan. However, this week, through informal discussions with FCC staff, we were told that ETCs that have never filed a five-year plan would not have to file that plan as part of the 2012 report and that the FCC will issue a clarification order soon cementing these changes.
 
To provide clients with the most up-to-date information on these reporting requirements and provide specific details as to how to satisfy the new reporting, certification and recordkeeping requirements, JSI held a webinar Wednesday, Feb. 1. During the webinar, we took clients step-by-step through the process of how to complete the reports and  provided additional information regarding a template that JSI has developed for the reporting and certification requirements.
 
The cost of the webinar is $249. Clients interested in accessing a recording of the webinar should contact Barbara Thomas (bthomas@jsitel.com) at 301-459-7590.  

If you have questions about the webinar or the FCC's Order, contact John Kuykendall (jkuykendall@jsitel.com) in JSI's Maryland office, at 301-459-7590, or Douglas Meredith (dmeredith@jsitel.com) in our Utah office, at 801-294-4576.