Reminder: Annual and Quarterly FCC International Reports Due March 31, 2022

Kelley Drye Client Advisory

Please be reminded of the following Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) reports that are due in March

1) Section 43.82 Annual Circuit Capacity Reports (March 31, 2022)
Each year the FCC collects data regarding capacity held on international submarine cable facilities.  FCC Rule 43.82 requires licensees of submarine cables between the United States and a foreign point (“Cable Operator”) and each cable landing licensee and common carrier with capacity on such a cable (“Capacity Holder”) each to report annually regarding circuit capacity held as of December 31, 2021.  These Cable Operator and Capacity Holder reports must be filed by March 31, 2022, using the filing portal available here and certified by an officer of the filing company.  The filing portal opened on March 1.
Included below is an overview of the circuit capacity reporting requirements but filers should be sure to review the FCC’s revised Section 43.82 Filing Manual for further details and reporting examples.    
Cable Operator Circuit Capacity Report
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, 2021.  Available capacity is all capacity (both lit and unlit) on a cable as of December 31, 2021 and planned capacity is the intended capacity (both lit and unlit) of the cable two years out from the reporting period.  Where a cable has multiple licensees, only one licensee is permitted to file the capacity data for the circuit. 
Capacity Holder Circuit Capacity Report
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, 2021. 
What data is reported:  Filers must report available capacity held, whether by 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 must be categorized and reported as activated or non-activated. 
General Reporting Guidance:

  • Entities unable to file reports by the filing deadline must submit a waiver request to the International Bureau before the filing deadline.
 
  • Reports must be submitted using FCC-provided electronic spreadsheets available within the online filing system. 
 
  • Filers may request confidential treatment of their data but, if the Commission receives a request for access to the data, the filer must be prepared to justify the confidentiality request. 
 
  • Affiliated entities must file separate reports, at the legal entity level, unless the entities are authorized to file the FCC Form 499A on a consolidated basis.
 
2) FCC Quarterly Section 63.10(c)(2) International Traffic and Revenue Report (March 31, 2022)

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, 2021 through December 31, 2021 and is due to the FCC by March 31, 2022.

 
3) FCC Quarterly Section 63.10(c)(3) Quality of Service Report (March 31, 2022)
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, 2021 through December 31, 2021 and is due to the FCC by March 31, 2022.

 
4) FCC Quarterly Section 63.10(c)(4) International Circuit Status Report (March 31, 2022)

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 active and 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. 

The report must cover the calendar quarter period of October 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021 and is due to the FCC by March 31, 2022.

 
5) FCC Quarterly Section 1.767(l) Submarine Cable Licensee Circuit Status and Provisioning and Maintenance Reports   (March 31, 2022)
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, must submit quarterly reports addressing circuit status and provisioning and maintenance on the system.
Filers must submit the following 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, 2021 through December 31, 2021 and is due to the FCC by March 31, 2022.

Please be advised that attorneys in Kelley Drye & Warren’s Communications 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.