§ 54.1813 - Affordable Connectivity Program Transparency Data Collection.

§ 54.1813 Affordable Connectivity Program Transparency Data Collection.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 88 FR 2267, Jan. 13, 2023.

(a) Definitions. For purposes of the Affordable Connectivity Program Transparency Data Collection:

Actual Speed. The term “actual speed” means the typical upload and download speeds period for a particular speed tier, either based on Measuring Broadband America (MBA) methodology, or other relevant testing data.

Advertised Speed. The term “advertised speed” means the maximum advertised upload and download speeds for fixed broadband plans, and the minimum advertised upload and download speeds for mobile broadband plans.

Base monthly price. The term “base monthly price” means the monthly price for a broadband internet service offering that would be paid by a household enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program, absent the affordable connectivity benefit. The base monthly price does not include the price of any recurring monthly fees (such as fees providers impose at their discretion, or equipment rental fees), government taxes or fees, or one-time charges (such as installation charges, equipment purchase fee, etc.).

Bundle. The term “bundle” means a combination of broadband internet access service with any non-broadband internet access service offerings, including but not limited to video, voice, and text.

Data Cap. The term “data cap” means data usage restrictions on both pre-paid and post-paid plans, including “soft caps” where a user's internet traffic is throttled or deprioritized, and “hard caps” where a user's access to the internet is discontinued.

Latency. The term “latency” means the length of time for a signal to be sent between two defined end points and the time it takes for an acknowledgement of the receipt of the signal to be received.

Legacy plan. The term “legacy plan” means an internet service offering in which an ACP subscriber is enrolled that a participating provider is not accepting new enrollment.

Personally identifiable information. The term “personally identifiable information” means information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity, either alone or when combined with other information that is linked or linkable to a specific individual.

Plan. The term “plan” means “internet service offering” as defined in § 54.1800(n).

Unique identifier. The term “unique identifier” means a machine-readable string of characters uniquely identifying a broadband plan, not containing any special characters. Where a broadband plan is associated with a broadband label under 47 CFR 8.1(a), the unique identifier must be the same as that in the broadband label. Unique identifiers cannot be reused or refer to multiple plans. A provider must develop a new plan identifier, when a plan's components change.

(b) [Reserved]

(c) [Reserved]

(d) [Reserved]

(

Information to be collected.

(1) For each plan that a household enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program is subscribed to, all participating providers shall submit, in an electronic format as directed by the Commission at the ZIP code level, by the deadline described in paragraph (c) of this section,

(i) The unique identifier with the following plan characteristics:

(A) Base monthly price,

(B) Whether the base monthly price is introductory, and if so, the term of the introductory price and the post-introductory price,

(C) Itemized provider-imposed recurring monthly fees,

(D) Itemized one-time fees,

(E) Speed (actual and advertised speeds),

(F) Latency,

(G) Data caps (including de-prioritization and throttling), any charges for additional data usages along with the relevant increment (e.g., 1 GB, 500 MB),

(H) Whether the service is bundled, the high-level components of the bundle, and voice minutes or number of text messages included as part of the bundle if applicable,

(I) Whether any associated equipment is required, whether any required associated equipment is included in the advertised cost, and the one-time fee or rental cost for required associated equipment;

(ii) The number of ACP households subscribed;

(iii) The number of ACP households that have reached a data cap during month prior to the snapshot date;

(iv) The average amount by which ACP households have exceeded the data cap for the month prior to the snapshot date;

(v) The average overage amount paid by ACP households exceeding a data cap for the month prior to the snapshot date;

(vi) The number of ACP households receiving the ACP Tribal enhanced benefit;

(vii) The number of ACP households receiving the ACP high-cost enhanced benefit;

(viii) The number of ACP households who are also enrolled in Lifeline for that plan;

(2) Legacy plans. For each legacy plan that a household enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program is subscribed to, all participating providers are required to submit all of the characteristics identified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section except: speed (actual and advertised), latency, introductory monthly charge, the length of the introductory period, and any one-time fees.

(c) Timing of collection. No later than November 9, 2023, and annually thereafter, participating providers must submit to the Commission the information in paragraph (b) of this section for all plans in which an Affordable Connectivity Program household is subscribed. The information must be current as of an annual snapshot date established and announced by the Bureau.

(d) Certifications. As part of the data collection required by paragraph (b) of the section, an officer of the participating provider shall certify, under penalty of perjury, that:

(1) The officer is authorized to submit the data collection on behalf of the participating provider; and

(2) The data and information provided in the data collection is true, complete, and accurate to the best of the officer's knowledge, information, and belief, and is based on information known to the officer or provided to the officer by employees responsible for the information being submitted.

(e) Publication of data —

(1) Obligation to publish data. The Commission will make aggregated, non-provider-specific data relating to broadband internet access service information collected in paragraph (b) of this section available to the public in a commonly used electronic format without risking the disclosure of personally identifiable information, as defined in paragraph (a)(8) of this section, or proprietary information.

(2) Requests for withholding from public inspection. When submitting information to the Commission under paragraph (c) of this section, a participating provider may submit a request that information be withheld from public inspection under § 0.459 of this chapter.

(f) Enforcement. A violation of the collection requirement occurs where a provider fails to submit ACP Transparency Data Collection information by the compliance date for a state in which the provider has ACP-enrolled subscribers. A base forfeiture amount for each state is the lesser of $22,000 or the latest monthly claim amount, for each state for which a provider has failed to submit complete information.

(g) Compliance. Paragraphs (b) through (d) of this section may contain information collection and/or recordkeeping requirements. Compliance with paragraphs (b) through (d) of this section will not be required until this paragraph (g) of this section is removed or contains a compliance date, which will not occur until after the Office of Management and Budget completes review of such requirements pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act or until after the Wireline Competition Bureau determines that such review is not required. The Commission directs the Wireline Competition Bureau to announce a compliance date for paragraphs (b) through (d) of this section by subsequent Public Notice and to cause this section to be revised accordingly.

[[88 FR 2267, Jan. 13, 2023, as amended at 88 FR 2267, Jan. 13, 2023; 88 FR 57364, Aug. 23, 2023]