Upcoming FCC Telecom Deadlines
March 31
Supply Chain Annual Report - Providers of advanced communications services that purchased, rented, leased, or otherwise obtained covered communications equipment and services on the Covered List in 2022 must submit an annual report on or before March 31, 2023 covering information as of December 31, 2022. The current version of the Covered List is available at https://www.fcc.gov/supplychain/coveredlist.
International Circuit Capacity Report - Any licensee of a submarine cable between the United States and a foreign point, as well as any common carrier with capacity on a submarine cable between the United States and a foreign point, must file Circuit Capacity Report(s) if it had any activated or non-activated circuits as of December 31, 2022.
April 3
Annual Disability Access Recordkeeping Compliance Certification - All equipment manufacturers for and providers of telecommunications services, interconnected VoIP services and advanced communications services must file their annual certification of recordkeeping compliance with the FCC's disability access rules for calendar year 2022.
Annual Revenues Report - Telecommunications and interconnected VoIP providers must report annual revenues for calendar year 2022 by this date. The revenue must be reported through FCC Form 499-A. Importantly, the revenue reported on the FCC Form 499-A will be used as a true-up for USF contributions previously billed based on the filer's projected revenue reported on the prior year's Form 499-Q.
April 30
First Quarter Payment of Excise Taxes and Filing of IRS Form 720 - Carriers that provide local service are required to collect federal excise tax from end users and pay the tax on a quarterly basis. Carriers must file an IRS Form 720 and make their first quarter payments by this date.
May 1
Certification of Rate Integration and Geographic Rate Averaging - FCC rules require telecommunications carriers providing domestic, interstate, interexchange services to file an annual certification that they comply with the FCC's policies regarding rate integration and geographic rate averaging.
Second Quarter FCC Form 499-Q - All telecommunications providers, including resellers and interconnected VoIP providers (but excluding those below the de minimis threshold) must file quarterly to report prior-quarter historical revenue and next-quarter projected revenue. However, de minimisfilers must maintain documentation to substantiate the de minimis determination on a quarterly basis. Projected revenue is used to calculate the amount of USF contributions invoiced to the provider in the coming quarter. Revisions to the Form 499-Q are due 45 days after the initial filing deadline. Total annual USF contributions are subject to a true-up process based upon the annual FCC Form 499-A.
May 31
Common Carrier Annual Employment Report - All licensees or permittees of common carrier stations with sixteen (16) or more full-time employees are required to report certain employment data, including employee counts by ethnic groups and job categories, to the FCC on an annual basis. All licensees and permittees, regardless of the number of employees, must file any applicable discrimination reports.
For more information about these upcoming telecom deadlines, please contact the attorneys at Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth.