DA 18-666 Released: June 26, 2018 EXTENSION OF DEADLINE FOR ALASKA PLAN CARRIERS FILING MIDDLE-MILE FIBER AND MICROWAVE NETWORK MAPS PURSUANT TO SECTION 54.316(a)(6) WC Docket No. 16-271 By this Public Notice, the Wireline Competition Bureau and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau extend the first filing deadline for Alaska Plan middle-mile data submissions made pursuant to Section 54.316(a)(6) from July 2, 2018, to August 1, 2018. We find that a short extension is necessary and appropriate in this case to ensure that carriers have sufficient time to submit middle-mile data to the High Cost Universal Broadband (HUBB) portal and that the HUBB portal is able to accept all of carriers’ data. Connect America Fund et al., Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 31 FCC Rcd 10139, 10157, para. 58 n.114 (2016) (Alaska Plan Order) (delegating authority to the Wireline Competition Bureau to extend the deadlines of 47 CFR § 54.316 as needed for administrative convenience); see also, e.g., Connect America Fund et al., Order on Reconsideration, 33 FCC Rcd 2068, App. at 2087 (WCB/WTB 2018) (Bureau-level order extending the deadline of section 54.316 for the middle-mile data collection from March 1, 2018, to July 1, 2018) (Alaska Plan Middle-Mile Order on Recon) (emphasis added); Annual International Traffic and Revenue Data As of December 31, 2014 Must Be Filed Using the Section 43.62 Online Filing System From August 17, 2015 to September 30, 2015, Public Notice, 30 FCC Rcd 8257 (IB 2015) (providing a filing extension at the Bureau-level due to technical concerns with a new online filing system). Section 54.316(a)(6), adopted pursuant to the Alaska Plan Order, Alaska Plan Order, 31 FCC Rcd 10139 (2016). requires Alaska Plan participants to “submit fiber network maps or microwave network maps covering eligible areas,” 47 CFR § 54.316(a)(6). and requires that, “[a]t the end of any calendar year for which middle-mile facilities were deployed, these recipients shall also submit updated maps showing middle-mile facilities that are or will be used to support their services in eligible areas.” 47 CFR § 54.316(a)(6). The Bureaus have worked with the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) to further develop the HUBB portal to accept Alaska Plan middle-mile data. The Bureaus’ middle-mile filing instructions state that carriers must “[d]escribe the types of nodes at [a] location using one or more of the following terms . . . .” Connect America Fund et al., Order on Reconsideration, 33 FCC Rcd 2068, App. at 2087 (2018) (Alaska Plan Middle-Mile Order on Reconsideration) (emphasis added). Therefore, for locations with more than one type of node (e.g., a location that is used as a central office, mobile switching center, and peering point), carriers must provide all applicable descriptors for that location. We also expound upon the how nodes are to be described: carriers should not list “community anchor institution” if the location is more properly described as a “school,” “library,” “health center,” or “hospital” and should use one of those terms instead of “community anchor institution” to describe the node as applicable. See Alaska Plan Webinar: Submitting Middle Mile Node Data in the HUBB Portal, May 21, 2018, at 8:58, https://www.usac.org/hc/about/outreach/videos/Submitting-Middle-Mile-Node-Data-in-HUBB.aspx. For example, while both “community anchor institution” and “school” would apply to a school, the carrier would only provide the term “school” and not also provide “community anchor institution” in the circumstance where a school is a reportable node. Listing all relevant node descriptors at each location provides valuable information about the importance of a location for the Alaska broadband infrastructure, supplying information regarding the capabilities of a location for the purposes of improving the network and correspondingly where there appears to be a lack of access to adequate facilities necessary to support last-mile connections. Currently, carriers filing locations requiring multiple node descriptors are not able to submit those locations and will not be able to do so until the HUBB portal receives a critical system update that will not be complete until after the July 2 deadline. The HUBB portal rejects the filing of a location where carriers provide, as required, all of the reportable types of nodes at one location. In addition, some wireline carriers were unable to submit data into the middle-mile HUBB portal until a system update on June 21, significantly limiting their time to validate their data in the portal and to certify its accuracy. The Bureaus extend the filing deadline from July 2, 2018, to August 1, 2018, to provide USAC sufficient time to update the HUBB software and to provide sufficient time for carriers to submit and certify location data. Carriers with locations with multiple node types should not file until USAC notifies carriers that it has implemented the software fix. Following the fix, carriers that have already filed and only listed one type of node at a location with multiple node types in order to avoid a system error, or that did not specify the type of community anchor institution where applicable, See id. should refile with all applicable node descriptors for each location. Carriers submitting more than one type of node at a location should use a semi-colon to separate terms (e.g., “school;cell site”) in the CSV file subject to further instructions from USAC. Additional Information. For additional information regarding this proceeding, contact Jesse Jachman of the Wireline Competition Bureau, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Jesse.Jachman@fcc.gov, (202) 418-2668, or Matt Warner of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Competition and Infrastructure Policy Division, Matthew.Warner@fcc.gov, (202) 418-2419. - FCC - 2