Telecom Alert: $1 Million Fine for USAC Violations; NG911 Transition NPRM Pleading Cycle; Rip-and-Replace Congressional Report; ECF Funding [Vol. XX, Issue 29]

$1 Million Fine Proposed for USAC Violations

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (“NAL”) against Enhanced Communications Group, LLC (“Enhanced Communications”) last week for failing to comply with telecommunications reporting worksheets documentation requirements and for filing inaccurate worksheets.  According to the NAL, Enhanced Communications failed to cooperate with a USAC audit and repeatedly failed to respond to directives from the Universal Service Administrative Company (“USAC”) to provide documentation supporting information in the Company’s Annual Worksheets from 2017 to 2022.  Enhanced Communications also repeatedly filed inaccurate Annual Worksheets for 2017 through 2022.  Accordingly, the Bureau finds Enhanced Communications apparently liable for a forfeiture penalty of $1,000,000.  For more information, please contact Jim Baller (baller@khlaw.com; 202.434.4175) or Casey Lide (lide@khlaw.com; 202.434.4186).

NG911 Transition NPRM Pleading Cycle

The FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking aimed at expediting the transition to Next Generation 9-1-1 (“NG911”) (Vol. XX, Issue 24) was published in the Federal Register last week.  The NPRM proposes requiring originating service providers (“OSPs”) to complete all translation and routing and to deliver all 911 calls to destination points requested by a 911 authority.  It would also make it the obligation of the OSP to cover the costs of delivering these 911 calls to the point of interconnection.  Comments and reply comments are due by August 9 and September 8, respectively.  For more information, please contact Wes Wright (wright@khlaw.com; 202.434.4239), Tim Doughty (doughty@khlaw.com; 202.434.4271).

Commission Reports Rip-and-Replace Program Updates

Last week, the FCC submitted its second report on the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (the “Program”) to the Senate updating it on the progress the Commission has made in implementing Program.  According to the report, the Wireline Competition Bureau has received 5,531 reimbursement claims and approved over $190 million in claims, which is roughly ten percent of the appropriated funds.  Recipients for whom the Bureau has approved distribution of reimbursement funds have deadlines to remove all Huawei and ZTE equipment and services ranging from September 29, 2023, to June 30, 2024.  Since demand for the Program far outweighed the $1.9 billion appropriated by Congress, only Priority 1 applicants (i.e., applicants with two million or fewer customers) will receive support and will only receive a prorated 39.5 percent of approved expenses.  For more information, please contact Greg Kunkle (kunkle@khlaw.com; 202.434.4178).

ECF Funding

The FCC announced that it is committing over $13.9 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program (the “Program”).  The commitment will support applications from the third application window and will support approximately 35,000 students in states including California, New York, Illinois, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia.  To date, the Program has provided support to roughly 11,000 schools, 1,050 libraries, and 120 consortia.  For more information, please contact Casey Lide (lide@khlaw.com; 202.434.4186).

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