Upcoming FCC Broadcast and Telecom Deadlines for August – October
Broadcast Deadlines:
August 1, 2019:
License Renewal Pre-Filing Announcements - Radio stations located in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands must begin broadcasts of their pre-filing announcements with regard to their applications for renewal of the license. These announcements must be continued on August 16, September 1, and September 16.
Radio Post-Filing Announcements - Radio stations located in North Carolina and South Carolina must begin broadcasts of their post-filing announcements with regard to their license renewal applications on August 1. These announcements then must continue on August 16, September 1, September 16, October 1, and October 16. Once complete, a certification of broadcast, with a copy of the announcement's text, must be posted to the online public file within seven days.
License Renewal Applications Due - Applications for renewal of license for radio stations located in North Carolina and South Carolina must be filed in the Commission's License and Managing System (LMS). These applications must be accompanied by Schedule 396, the Broadcast Equal Employment Opportunity Program Report, also filed in LMS, regardless of the number of full-time employees.
EEO Public File Reports - All radio and television station employment units with five (5) or more full-time employees located in California, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Wisconsin must place EEO Public File Reports in their online public inspection files. For all stations with websites, the report must be posted there as well. Per announced FCC policy, the reporting period may end ten days before the report is due, and the reporting period for the next year will begin on the following day.
August 7, 2019:
Emergency Alert System (EAS) National Test - Participants' EAS Test Reporting System (ETRS) Form Two Due - All EAS participants must be prepared for the national EAS test on August 7 at 2:20 p.m. EDT. Additionally, all participants must prepare and file in the ETRS a Form Two for each station by 11:59 p.m. EDT on August 7. This form is scheduled to become available at 2:20 p.m. EDT, immediately following the EAS test, and will provide information as to results of the test.
September ??, 2019:
Annual Regulatory Fees - On a date not yet determined but certainly before September 30, 2019, annual regulatory fees will be due. These will be due and payable for Fiscal Year 2019, and will be based upon a licensee's/permittee's holdings on October 1, 2018, plus anything that might have been purchased since then and less anything that might have been sold since then. The fees must be paid through the FCC's online Fee Filer, and once again this year, the FCC will not accept checks as payment of the fees but will require some form of electronic payment (credit card, ACH transfer, wire transfer, and the like). Please keep in mind that timely payment is critical, as late payment results in a 25 percent penalty, plus potential additional interest charges.
September 23, 2019
EAS National Test - Participants' ETRS Form Three Due - All EAS participants must submit Form Three, which reports the results of the the EAS national test held on August 7 by this date. If a station successfully received and passed the test, it must report from which source it first received the test, when it received the test, when it passed on the alert, and other details of what was received. If the station did not receive the test properly, it will be asked to explain what it knows of why not.
October 1, 2019
License Renewal Pre-Filing Announcements - Radio stations Alabama and Georgia must begin broadcasts of their pre-filing announcements with regard to their applications for renewal of the license. These announcements must be continued on October 16, November 1, and November 16.
Radio Post-Filing Announcements - Radio stations located in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands must begin broadcasts of their post-filing announcements with regard to their license renewal applications on October 1. These announcements then must continue on October 16, November 1, November 16, December 1, and December 16. Once complete, a certification of broadcast, with a copy of the announcement's text, must be posted to the online public file within seven days.
License Renewal Applications Due - Applications for renewal of license for radio stations located in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands must be filed in the Commission's LMS. These applications must be accompanied by Schedule 396, the Broadcast EEO Program Report, also filed in LMS, regardless of the number of full-time employees.
EEO Public File Reports - All radio and television station employment units with five (5) or more full-time employees located in located in Alaska, American Samoa, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Iowa, the Mariana Islands, Missouri, Oregon, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Washington must place EEO Public File Reports in their online public inspection files. For all stations with websites, the report must be posted there as well. Per announced FCC policy, the reporting period may end ten days before the report is due, and the reporting period for the next year will begin on the following day.
Telecom Deadlines:
August 1, 2019
Quarterly Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet (FCC Form 499-Q) - FCC rules require telecommunications carriers and interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers to file quarterly revenue statements reporting historical revenue for the prior quarter and projecting revenue for the next quarter. The projected revenue is used to calculate contributions to the Universal Service Fund (USF) for high cost, rural, insular and tribal areas as well as to support telecommunications services for schools, libraries, and rural health care providers. USF assessments are billed monthly.
Numbering Resource Utilization Forecast (NRUF) (FCC Form 502) - Twice a year, service providers with numbers from the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA), a Pooling Administrator, or another telecommunications carrier must file a numbering resource utilization forecast. Subscriber toll-free numbers are not included in the report. Interconnected VoIP providers are subject to the reporting requirement along with other service providers who receive NANPA numbers, such as wireless carriers, paging companies, incumbent local exchange carriers, and competitive local exchange carriers.
August 14, 2019
Quarterly Percentage of Internet Usage (PIU) Certification - USF prepaid calling card providers must file a certification stating that it is making the required USF contributions. The certification must be signed by an officer of the company under penalty of perjury and can be filed electronically using the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). The Quarterly PIC Certification due August 14, 2019 will cover the Second Quarter of 2019 (April 1, 2019 through June 30, 2019).
September 1, 2019
FCC Form 477 - FCC Form 477 is filed online biannually on March 1 and September 1. The Commission collects a variety of information about broadband deployment and wireless and wired telephone service on Form 477. Broadly speaking, the following providers must fill Form 477: 1) facilities-based providers of broadband connections to end users, 2) providers of wired or fixed wireless local exchange telephone service, 3) providers of interconnected VoIP service; and 4) facilities-based providers of mobile telephony (mobile voice) services. If you have any questions about whether your company must file Form 477 or what information your company is required to submit in the filing, you should contact your telecommunications counsel.
September ??, 2019
Annual Regulatory Fees - On a date not yet determined but certainly before September 30, 2019, annual regulatory fees will be due. Virtually all licensed service providers, including interstate telecommunications carriers (e.g. interexchange carriers (IXC), resellers, local exchange carriers (LEC), competitive local exchange carriers (CLEC), operator service providers (OSP), I-VoIPs, etc.) are subject to the fee. These will be due and payable for Fiscal Year 2019, and will be based upon a licensee's/permittee's holdings on October 1, 2018, plus anything that might have been purchased since then and less anything that might have been sold since then. The fees must be paid through the FCC's online Fee Filer, and once again this year, the FCC will not accept checks as payment of the fees but will require some form of electronic payment (credit card, ACH transfer, wire transfer, and the like). Please keep in mind that timely payment is critical, as late payment results in a 25 percent penalty, plus potential additional interest charges.