Annual and Quarterly FCC International Reports Due April 1, 2019
Kelley Drye Client Advisory
Please be reminded of the upcoming due dates for the Reports listed below:
Note that these reports usually are due by March 31 but, because that date falls on a Sunday this year, the filings will be due by April 1, 2019.
Annual Section 43.82(b) International Circuit Capacity Report
Each year the FCC collects data regarding capacity held on international submarine cable facilities including the status of the circuits, planned and available capacity, and capacity held by filers on the submarine cable circuit. The circuit capacity reports are due this year by April 1, 2019 and must be submitted via the online filing portal available here: https://apps2.fcc.gov/section4362/login.xhtml.
The circuit capacity filing includes two separate reports and an overview of the reports and the required reporting entities are described briefly below. Note that the requirement to report on terrestrial and satellite circuits was eliminated last year as part of the Commission’s efforts to streamline the reporting obligations. Filers should be sure to review the FCC’s Section 43.82 filing manual for further details regarding the reports.
1) Circuit Capacity Report – International Submarine Cable – Cable Operators
Who must report:Licensee(s) of submarine cables between the United States and a foreign point
What data is reported: All available and planned capacity on the cable as of December 31 of the reporting period. Available capacity is all capacity (both lit and unlit) on a cable as of December 31 of the current reporting period. Planned capacity is the intended capacity (both lit and unlit) of the cable two years out from the reporting period (December 31 of the reporting period plus two years) based on current plans for use of upgraded technology on the submarine cable. For reporting purposes, capacity is reported in Gbps rounded to one decimal place. Where a cable has multiple licensees, only one licensee is permitted to file the capacity data for the circuit.
2) Circuit Capacity Report – International Submarine Cable – Capacity Holders
Who must report:Cable landing licensees and common carriers that hold capacity on the U.S. end of a submarine cable between the United States and a foreign point as of December 31 of the reporting period.
What data is reported: Filers must report available capacity held, via cable ownership, indefeasible right of use, or inter-carrier lease, on the U.S. end of every submarine cable between the United States and any foreign point. Capacity holdings also must be categorized and reported as activated or non-activated. Capacity is reported in Synchronous Transport Module level-1 (STM-1) units.
Filers must retain data supporting the filing for three (3) years and be prepared to provide the data to the Commission upon request. Filers may request confidential treatment of the report data by selecting the appropriate checkbox during the filing process but, if the Commission receives a request for access to the data, the filer must be prepared to justify the confidentiality request. Note that FCC staff has the ability to send e-mails to filers through the online filing system. The e-mails will have the following address: FCC-INTL-Part43@FCC.gov and filers should ensure such e-mails will not be caught in spam filters.
FCC Quarterly Section 63.10(c)(2) International Traffic and Revenue Report
All carriers authorized to provide international communications service and classified as dominant must file a quarterly report detailing traffic and revenue data for the services and routes on which the carrier is classified as dominant. Although the FCC has eliminated the annual international traffic and revenue reporting requirement, dominant carriers still must submit traffic and revenue information on a quarterly basis.
The traffic and revenue data for the quarterly report must include “the minutes completed on foreign networks; settlement payouts for call completion on foreign networks; foreign-billed minutes; and foreign-billed settlement receipts.”
The report must cover the calendar quarter period of October 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018 and is due to the FCC by April 1, 2019.
FCC Quarterly Section 63.10(c)(3) Quality of Service Report
All carriers authorized to provide international communications service and classified as dominant must provide information regarding the provisioning and maintenance of all basic network facilities and services procured from the carrier’s foreign carrier affiliate or allied foreign carrier for those routes on which the carrier is classified as dominant.
These reports should contain the following data: “the types of circuits and services provided; the average time intervals between order and delivery; the number of outages and intervals between fault report and service restoration; and for circuits used to provide international switched service, the percentage of ‘peak hour’ calls that failed to complete.”
The report must cover the calendar quarter period of October 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018 and is due to the FCC by April 1, 2019.
FCC Quarterly Section 63.10(c)(4) International Circuit Status Report
Facilities-based carriers authorized to provide international communications service and classified as dominant must report on the status of all circuits used to provide international service on those routes on which the carrier is classified as dominant.
Information regarding activated or idle 64kbps or equivalent circuits must be reported on a facility-by-facility basis. Carriers must identify the terrestrial, satellite and submarine cable transmission facilities used, i.e., U.S. - United Kingdom cable system, etc. for each route and identify the number of channels or circuits for each system if more than one system is used.
The report must cover the calendar quarter period of October 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018 and is due to the FCC by April 1, 2019.
FCC Quarterly Section 1.767(l) Submarine Cable Licensee Circuit Status and Provisioning and Maintenance Reports
Section 1.767(l) reports must be filed by submarine cable licensees that (i) are, or are affiliated with, carriers with market power in any of the submarine cable’s WTO Member destination countries; and (ii) that have sought streamlined processing of a cable landing license, pursuant to section 1.767 of the Commission’s rules.Filers must submit the following Provisioning and Maintenance and Circuit Status Reports:
Section 1.767 Provisioning and Maintenance Report - The provisioning and maintenance report summarizes the provisioning and maintenance of all network facilities and services procured from the filer’s foreign carrier affiliate, in the destination market. The report must contain the following information: the types and volume or quantity of provisioned services and facilities; the time interval between order and delivery; and the number of outages and intervals between fault report and facility or service restoration.
Section 1.767 Circuit Status Report - The circuit status report must include the status of all active and idle 64 kbps or equivalent circuits and be reported by facility (terrestrial, satellite and submarine cable).
The section 1.767 provisioning and maintenance reports and circuit status reports are due within 90 days from the end of each calendar quarter. The report must cover the calendar quarter period of October 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018 and is due to the FCC by April 1, 2019.
Please be advised that attorneys in Kelley Drye & Warren’s telecommunications practice group are experienced in addressing international reporting issues and are able to assist clients in filing the international carrier reports.
For further information on any of these filings, please contact your usual Kelley Drye attorney.