The FCC has issued an order that modifies or eliminates various reporting requirements for high-cost eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) filed annually with FCC Form 481. Among other things, the FCC eliminated obligations to report (1) network outage information; (2) unfulfilled service requests; (3) the number of complaints per 1,000 subscribers for both voice and broadband services; and (4) pricing for voice and broadband services. Also gone are the compliance certification with applicable service quality standards and the requirement to file duplicate copies of Form 481 with the FCC, states, and/or applicable Tribal governments (though contingent upon USAC’s completed rollout of its online high-cost portal for 2018). The streamlined reporting requirements will take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
