Public Notice

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the FCC has certified four Spectrum Access System (SAS) Administrators, paving the way for full commercial operations in the 3.5 GHz band. In 2019, the FCC approved these SAS Administrators for initial commercial deployments. Jan 27’s action allows for full commercial use of this critical mid-band spectrum for broadband connectivity and 5G. 

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau has pending before it eight petitions for reconsideration of various aspects of the intercarrier compensation provisions of the Universal Service Fund/ USF/Intercarrier Compensation Transformation Order. Each of the Petitions was filed in 2011 and no entities have filed comments or ex parte submissions regarding these petitions for several years.

The Federal Communications Commission published its new rule for its Lifeline program making January 27, 2020 the date the changes will go into effect. The changes include:

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau announces the E-Rate program category two budget multipliers and funding floor amounts for funding year 2020. In the recently adopted Category Two Report and Order, the FCC extended the test period for the category two budget approach from five years to six years and provided a pro-rated portion of category two funding for all applicants for funding year 2020, the sixth and final year of the test period. The FCC then directed the Bureau to release the updated category two budget multipliers and funding floor, adjusted for i

A soft launch of the National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier begins Friday, December 20, 2019 in California, Oregon, and Texas. Unlike all other states, territories, and the District of Columbia, these three states operate their own comprehensive systems, in place of the National Lifeline Accountability Database (NLAD). As a result, the Lifeline program continues to rely on these states’ systems for eliminating duplicative Lifeline support. Similarly, each of these states has its own system in place to determine subscriber eligibility for the federal Lifeline program in addition to its own s

National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier launches in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Washington. Starting on January 22, 2020, eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) in these nine states will be required to use the National Verifier’s eligibility determination process for all consumers applying for Lifeline service and must cease using legacy eligibility processes for prospective Lifeline subscribers.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai appointed six members to the Board of Directors of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). The three-year term for these positions begins on January 1, 2020.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau, in conjunction with the Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force and the Office of Economics and Analytics, authorize $89,184,858.40 in Connect America Fund Phase II (Auction 903) support for the winning bids identified in Attachment A.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau announced that the National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier (National Verifier) will soft launch on December 16, 2019 in Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The soft launch period will allow eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) to become familiar with the National Verifier and adjust and test their systems and business processes before use of the National Verifier becomes mandatory. During the soft launch, only ETCs will have access to the National Verifier.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced the leadership of the four working groups that will support the work of the FCC’s new Task Force for Reviewing the Connectivity and Technology Needs of Precision Agriculture. The Task Force will hold its first meeting on Dec 9. 

Mapping and Analyzing Connectivity on Agricultural Lands will help identify connectivity gaps on agricultural lands.