The Regulatory Mix - Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Today's Regulatory Mix: FCC Form 477 Reminder, FCC Activates Disaster Information Reporting System

FCC Form 477 Reminder

The FCC’s Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA) has issued a Public Notice reminding all parties required to file Form 477 that the filing deadline for the Form 477 data as of June 30, 2020 is September 1, 2020.  Entities required to file the Form 477 include: facilities-based providers of broadband connections to end users, providers of wired or fixed wireless local exchange service, providers of interconnected VoIP service, and facilities-based providers of mobile voice service.  OEA emphasized that accurate and timely submission of FCC Form 477 is mandatory and warned that providers that are required to file Form 477 but fail to do so may be subject to enforcement action under sections 502 and 503 of the Communications Act and any other applicable law. See Inteserra Blog posted 7/15/2020: FAQs About FCC Form 477 and Broadband Reporting – July 2020

FCC Activates Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS)

The FCC announced it was activating DIRS in response to Storms Marco and Laura. DIRS is a voluntary, web-based system that communications providers, including wireless, wireline, broadcast, cable and Voice over Internet Protocol providers, and satellite providers can use to report communications infrastructure status and situational awareness information during times of crisis.  In DIRS, this activation will have the following name: MARCO AND LAURA 2020.  Communications providers are reminded that for providers that participate in DIRS, the separate Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) obligations are suspended for the duration of the DIRS activation with respect to outages in the counties where DIRS has been activated. Reports are requested at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 25, 2020, and every day after that by 10:00 a.m. until DIRS is deactivated.

Counties of interest for this activation include the following:

• Arkansas:  Arkansas, Ashley, Baxter, Benton, Boone, Bradley, Calhoun, Carroll, Chicot, Clark, Clay, Cleburne, Cleveland, Columbia, Conway, Craighead, Crawford, Crittenden, Cross, Dallas, Desha, Drew, Faulkner, Franklin, Fulton, Garland, Grant, Greene, Hempstead, Hot Spring, Howard, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Lafayette, Lawrence, Lee, Lincoln, Little River, Logan, Lonoke,  Madison, Marion, Miller, Mississippi, Monroe, Montgomery, Nevada, Newton, Ouachita, Perry, Phillips, Pike, Poinsett, Polk, Pope, Prairie, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Scott, Searcy, Sebastian, Sevier, Sharp, St. Francis, Stone, Union, Van Buren, Washington, White, Woodruff, Yell 
• Louisiana: Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Calcasieu, Caldwell, Cameron, Catahoula, Claiborne, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Iberia, Iberville, Jackson, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, La Salle, Lafayette, Lafourche, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Orleans, Ouachita, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John The Baptist, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Tensas, Terrebonne, Union, Vermilion, Vernon, Washington, Webster, West Baton Rouge, West Carroll, West Feliciana, Winn
• Mississippi: Adams, Amite, Attala, Bolivar, Carroll, Claiborne, Coahoma, Copiah, Covington, Forrest, Franklin, George, Greene, Grenada, Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lamar, Lawrence, Leake, Leflore, Lincoln, Madison, Marion, Montgomery, Newton, Pearl River, Perry, Pike, Quitman, Rankin, Scott, Sharkey, Simpson, Smith, Stone, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tunica, Walthall, Warren, Washington, Wilkinson, Yazoo
• Texas: Anderson, Angelina, Bowie, Brazoria, Camp, Cass, Chambers, Cherokee, Fort Bend, Galveston, Gregg, Grimes, Hardin, Harris, Harrison, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Marion, Matagorda, Montgomery, Morris, Nacogdoches, Newton, Orange, Panola, Polk, Red River, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Smith, Titus, Trinity, Tyler, Upshur, Walker, Waller, Wood

In connection with the storms, the FCC also provided 24/7 contact information and announced procedures for obtaining special temporary authority and emergency requests for relief associated with the storms.

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.