Selected portions of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, a newsletter from the Law Offices of Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP are reproduced in this section with the firm's permission. 
LAW & REGULATION January 18, 2013 E-911 Compliance Deadline We wish to once again remind our clients that the Federal Communications Commission’s more stringent E-911 accuracy standards for wireless carriers using handset-based solutions take effect on January 18, 2013. Under the E-911 Rules, two years from the effective date of the Second Report and Order in the E-911 proceeding (i.e., by January 18, 2013), handset-based carriers must meet an accuracy standard of 50 meters for 67 percent of calls, and 150 meters for 80 percent of calls, on a per-county or per-Public Safety Answering Point (“PSAP”) basis. The requirement is codified at 47 C.F.R. 20.18(h)(2). These accuracy requirements will grow more stringent in subsequent years. FCC Announces First Quarter 2013 Contribution Factor Decrease to 16.1 Percent The Federal Communications Commission released a Public Notice announcing that the proposed universal service contribution factor for the first quarter (January-March) of 2013 will be 0.161 or 16.1 percent. If the Commission takes no action regarding the projections of demand and administrative expenses and the proposed contribution factor within the 14-day period following release of this Public Notice, they shall be deemed approved by the Commission. FCC Releases Order on Healthcare Connect Fund On December 21, 2012, the FCC released a Report and Order creating the Healthcare Connect Fund, effectively reforming the last of the four universal service programs (See BloostonLaw December 19th, 2012). The rule changes contained in the Order become effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. The Healthcare Connect Fund, which is based on the recent Rural Health Care Pilot Program, permits health care providers (HCPs) to purchase services or even construct their own broadband infrastructure with universal service fund dollars. The new program will support the cost of (1) broadband and other advanced services;
(2) upgrading existing facilities to higher bandwidth;
(3) equipment necessary to create networks of HCPs, as well as equipment necessary to receive broadband services; and
(4) HCP-owned infrastructure (where shown to be the most cost-effective option).
The program will match funding provided by HCPs themselves 2-to-1; in other words, HCPs will be responsible for 35% of the cost and the Healthcare Connect Fund will cover the rest. There is a $400 million cap in place for the health care support mechanism, and the FCC has implemented three additional safeguards to ensure non-rural HCPs do not use the entire fund:
1) non-rural HCPs may only apply for support as part of consortia that include rural HCPs;
(2) non-rural HCPs may receive support only if they participate in consortia that include a majority (more than 50 percent) of sites that are rural HCPs; and
(3) the annual funding available to each of the largest hospitals participating in the program (those with 400 or more beds) is capped.
The FCC indicates that it expects funding to be available in late summer. Look for more information about the specifics of the procedure in upcoming editions of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, or contact the firm directly. Senate Approves Mignon Clyburn Renomination On January 1, 2013, the Senate approved President Obama’s June 2012 nomination of Mignon Clyburn to the Federal Communications Commission. Clyburn’s original appointment to the Commission in 2009 filled the unexpired term of Deborah Taylor Tate, whose term ended in January 2009 when the Senate failed to confirm her nomination, making this her first full term as a Commissioner. Clyburn’s five-year term is retroactive to July 1, 2012, when her first term expired. As of this writing, no date for her swearing-in ceremony has been announced.
DEADLINES FEBRUARY 1: FCC FORM 502, NUMBER UTILIZATION AND FORECAST REPORT. Any wireless or wireline carrier (including paging companies) that have received number blocks—including 100, 1,000, or 10,000 number blocks—from the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA), a Pooling Administrator, or from another carrier, must file Form 502 by February 1. Carriers porting numbers for the purpose of transferring an established customer’s service to another service provider must also report, but the carrier receiving numbers through porting does not. Resold services should also be treated like ported numbers, meaning the carrier transferring the resold service to another carrier is required to report those numbers but the carrier receiving such numbers should not report them. Reporting carriers are required to include their FCC Registration Number (FRN). Reporting carriers file utilization and forecast reports semiannually on or before February 1 for the preceding six-month reporting period ending December 31, and on or before August 1 for the preceding six-month reporting period ending June 30.
VITAL MEETINGS AND DEADLINES Jan. 11 — Deadline for replies to oppositions to petitions to deny LightSquared request to modify ATC authorizations (IB Docket No. 12-340). Jan. 14 — Deadline for reply comments on Next Generation 911 (NG911) issues (PS Docket No. 10-255, PS Docket No. 11-153 and PS Docket No. 12-333). Jan. 14 — Deadline for reply comments on FNPRM regarding program access rule revisions (MB Docket No, 12-68). Ex-tended from Nov. 30. Jan. 15 — HAC reporting deadline. Jan. 18 — E-911 handset accuracy requirement goes into effect. Jan. 22 — Comments on Handset Compliance Rules are due.
Jan. 28 — Deadline for comments on NTCA and AT&T petitions on transitioning voice networks to internet protocol. Jan. 28 — Comments on Connect America Fund Phase I FNPRM due. Jan. 29 — Comments on Next Generation 911; Text-to-911(Section III.A) are due. Jan. 31 — Report of extension of credit to federal candidates. Jan. 31 — Carrier Identification (CIC) code reports are due. Jan. 31 — FCC open meeting. Jan. 31 — Deadline for ETCs to report to the FCC, USAC & tribal governments (where appropriate) results of their efforts to re-certify Lifeline subscribers (WC Docket Nos. 11-42, 03-109, 12-23, and CC Docket No. 96-45). Feb. 1 — FCC Form 499-Q, Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet, is due. Feb. 1 — FCC Form 502, Number Utilization and Forecast Report, is due. Feb. 8 — Comments for Next Generation 911; Text-to-911 (Section III.A) are due. Feb. 8 — Electronic filing deadline for Form 497 for carriers seeking support for the preceding month and wishing to receive reimbursement by month’s end. Feb. 11 — Reply Comments | 
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