The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) has granted a temporary waiver of the May 1, 2018, quarterly filing deadline for covered providers to comply with the rural call completion (RCC) reporting requirements, until the recently adopted RCC Second Report and Order eliminating the reporting requirements becomes effective. In the RCC Second Report and Order, the FCC concluded that the reports are both burdensome and of limited value to the FCC in discovering the source of rural call completion issues. The FCC also stated that removing the reporting requirements would provide covered providers with prompt relief from the need to spend time and resources compiling and filing reports that would otherwise be due on May 1, 2018.This rule change, however, does not become effective until 30 days after the RCC Second Report and Order is published in the Federal Register, which has not yet happened, and which post-dates the May 1 filing deadline. In the subject Order, the Bureau finds good cause to grant a temporary waiver because the FCC specifically intended to relieve covered providers of the May 1, 2018 filing burden. The temporary waiver applies to all covered providers subject to the reporting requirements.
