§  54.209   Annual reporting requirements for designated eligible
telecommunications carriers.

   (a) A common carrier designated under section 214(e)(6) as an eligible
   telecommunications carrier shall provide:

   (1) A progress report on its five-year service quality improvement
   plan, including maps detailing its progress towards meeting its plan
   targets, an explanation of how much universal service support was
   received and how it was used to improve signal quality, coverage, or
   capacity, and an explanation regarding any network improvement targets
   that have not been fulfilled. The information shall be submitted at the
   wire center level;

   (2) Detailed information on any outage, as that term is defined in 47
   CFR 4.5, of at least 30 minutes in duration for each service area in
   which an eligible telecommunications carrier is designated for any
   facilities it owns, operates, leases, or otherwise utilizes that
   potentially affect

   (i) At least ten percent of the end users served in a designated
   service area; or

   (ii) A 911 special facility, as defined in 47 CFR 4.5(e).

   (iii) Specifically, the eligible telecommunications carrier's annual
   report must include information detailing:

   (A) The date and time of onset of the outage;

   (B) A brief description of the outage and its resolution;

   (C) The particular services affected;

   (D) The geographic areas affected by the outage;

   (E) Steps taken to prevent a similar situation in the future; and

   (F) The number of customers affected.

   (3) The number of requests for service from potential customers within
   the eligible telecommunications carrier's service areas that were
   unfulfilled during the past year. The carrier shall also detail how it
   attempted to provide service to those potential customers, as set forth
   in § 54.202(a)(1)(i);

   (4) The number of complaints per 1,000 handsets or lines;

   (5) Certification that it is complying with applicable service quality
   standards and consumer protection rules;

   (6) Certification that the carrier is able to function in emergency
   situations as set forth in § 54.201(a)(2);

   (7) Certification that the carrier is offering a local usage plan
   comparable to that offered by the incumbent LEC in the relevant service
   areas; and

   (8) Certification that the carrier acknowledges that the Commission may
   require it to provide equal access to long distance carriers in the
   event that no other eligible telecommunications carrier is providing
   equal access within the service area.

   (b) Filing deadlines. In order for a common carrier designated under
   section 214(e)(6) to continue to receive support for the following
   calendar year, or retain its eligible telecommunications carrier
   designation, it must submit the annual reporting information in
   paragraph (a) no later than October 1, 2006, and thereafter annually by
   October 1 of each year. Eligible telecommunications carriers that file
   their reports after the October 1 deadline shall receive support
   pursuant to the following schedule:

   (1) Eligible telecommunication carriers that file no later than January
   1 of the subsequent year shall receive support for the second, third
   and fourth quarters of the subsequent year.

   (2) Eligible telecommunication carriers that file no later than April 1
   of the subsequent year shall receive support for the third and fourth
   quarters of the subsequent year.

   (3) Eligible telecommunication carriers that file no later than July 1
   of the subsequent year shall receive support for the fourth quarter of
   the subsequent year.

   [ 70 FR 29978 , May 25, 2005]

Subpart D—Universal Service Support for High Cost Areas