The FCC requires providers of advanced communications services to certify each year whether they have purchased, rented, leased, or otherwise obtained any communications equipment or services on the Covered List. The Covered List details equipment and services from companies the FCC has determined pose a national security threat, and can be found here https://www.fcc.gov/supplychain/coveredlist.
Advanced communications services are “high-speed, switched, broadband telecommunications capability that enables users to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video telecommunications using any technology with connection speeds of at least 200 kbps in either direction.” Providers must file a report by March 31, 2023 that covers information as of December 31, 2022. The reporting portal, instructions, and other information about the annual reporting requirements are available here.
Whether a provider of advanced communication services has to file a report by March 31 depends on what the provider reported to the FCC when it made its initial certification in 2022.
- Any provider that reported in 2022 that it had purchased, rented, leased, or otherwise obtained covered communications equipment and services on the Covered List, as well as those providers that are reporting the presence of newly obtained covered equipment or services, must submit an annual report by March 31, 2023, covering information as of December 31, 2022.
- If a provider certified in 2022 that it did not have any covered communications equipment or services, the provider does not need to file an annual report in 2023 unless it has obtained communications equipment or services that appear on the current Covered List. In that case, the provider must report information on such equipment when it is obtained, and then submit a report by March 31, 2023, covering information as of December 31, 2022.
The Covered List can change, so providers need to remain alert to notices announcing changes to the list.
