§ 54.209 - Annual reporting requirements for designated eligible telecommunications carriers.

Link to an amendment published at 77 FR 12966, March 2, 2012.

(a) A common carrier designated under section 214(e)(6) as an eligible telecommunications carrier shall provide:

(1) A progress report on its five-year service quality improvement plan, including maps detailing its progress towards meeting its plan targets, an explanation of how much universal service support was received and how it was used to improve signal quality, coverage, or capacity, and an explanation regarding any network improvement targets that have not been fulfilled. The information shall be submitted at the wire center level;

(2) Detailed information on any outage, as that term is defined in 47 CFR 4.5, of at least 30 minutes in duration for each service area in which an eligible telecommunications carrier is designated for any facilities it owns, operates, leases, or otherwise utilizes that potentially affect

(i) At least ten percent of the end users served in a designated service area; or

(ii) A 911 special facility, as defined in 47 CFR 4.5(e).

(iii) Specifically, the eligible telecommunications carrier's annual report must include information detailing:

(A) The date and time of onset of the outage;

(B) A brief description of the outage and its resolution;

(C) The particular services affected;

(D) The geographic areas affected by the outage;

(E) Steps taken to prevent a similar situation in the future; and

(F) The number of customers affected.

(3) The number of requests for service from potential customers within the eligible telecommunications carrier's service areas that were unfulfilled during the past year. The carrier shall also detail how it attempted to provide service to those potential customers, as set forth in §54.202(a)(1)(i);

(4) The number of complaints per 1,000 handsets or lines;

(5) Certification that it is complying with applicable service quality standards and consumer protection rules;

(6) Certification that the carrier is able to function in emergency situations as set forth in §54.201(a)(2);

(7) Certification that the carrier is offering a local usage plan comparable to that offered by the incumbent LEC in the relevant service areas; and

(8) Certification that the carrier acknowledges that the Commission may require it to provide equal access to long distance carriers in the event that no other eligible telecommunications carrier is providing equal access within the service area.

(b) Filing deadlines. In order for a common carrier designated under section 214(e)(6) to continue to receive support for the following calendar year, or retain its eligible telecommunications carrier designation, it must submit the annual reporting information in paragraph (a) no later than October 1, 2006, and thereafter annually by October 1 of each year. Eligible telecommunications carriers that file their reports after the October 1 deadline shall receive support pursuant to the following schedule:

(1) Eligible telecommunication carriers that file no later than January 1 of the subsequent year shall receive support for the second, third and fourth quarters of the subsequent year.

(2) Eligible telecommunication carriers that file no later than April 1 of the subsequent year shall receive support for the third and fourth quarters of the subsequent year.

(3) Eligible telecommunication carriers that file no later than July 1 of the subsequent year shall receive support for the fourth quarter of the subsequent year.

[70 FR 29978, May 25, 2005]