Federal Communications Commission DA 23-753 DA 23-753 Released: August 24, 2023 WIRELINE COMPETITION BUREAU SEEKS NOMINATIONS FOR SIX BOARD MEMBER POSITIONS ON THE UNIVERSAL SERVICE ADMINISTRATIVE COMPANY BOARD OF DIRECTORS CC Docket Nos. 96-45, 97-21 Nominations Due By: October 24, 2023 Pursuant to section 54.703(c) of the Federal Communications Commission’s rules, the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) seeks nominations for the following Board member positions on the Board of Directors of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) listed below for a three-year term. 47 CFR § 54.703(c). · Representative for incumbent local exchange carriers (non-Bell Operating Companies) with $40 million or less in annual revenues (position currently held by Geoffrey A. Feiss, General Manager, Montana Telecommunications Association) · Representative for competitive local exchange carriers (position currently held by Joseph Gillan, Consultant, Gillan Associates) · Representative for low-income consumers (position currently held by Ellis Jacobs, Senior Attorney, Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc.) · Representative for interexchange carriers with annual operating revenues of $3 billion or less (position currently held by Michael Skrivan, former Vice President, Regulatory, Consolidated Communications) · Representative for schools that are eligible to receive discounts pursuant to section 54.501 of the Commission’s rules (position currently held by Joan H. Wade, Ed.D., Executive Director, Association of Educational Service Agencies) · Representative for rural health care providers that are eligible to receive supported services pursuant to section 54.601(position currently held by Katharine Hsu Wibberly, Ph.D., Director, Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Resource Center) We are persuaded that having Board members with substantive areas of expertise relevant to running a large and complex organization with such skills as accounting, finance, auditing, procurement, data management and information technology will improve the management, administration and oversight of USAC. If members of the relevant industry or non-industry group fail to reach consensus on a candidate to serve on the Board, or fail to submit a nomination for the particular Board member seat, the Chair of the Federal Communications Commission will select an individual from that industry or non-industry group to serve on the Board as outlined in section 54.703(c)(1). 47 CFR § 54.703(c)(1). The Commission recently adopted rules to add a Tribal representative to the USAC Board of Directors. See Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support Mechanism, et al., CC Docket No. 02-6 et al., FCC 23-56, at *17, para. 34 (rel. July 21, 2023) (E-Rate Tribal Report and Order). The Bureau will seek nominations in a separate Public Notice for the new Tribal USAC Board position upon the effective date of the rules, which will be thirty (30) days after the publication of the E-Rate Tribal Report and Order in the Federal Register. Pursuant to section 54.703(c)(2) of the Commission’s rules, each nomination must be captioned: “In the Matter of: Nomination for Universal Service Administrative Company Board of Directors, CC Docket Nos. 97-21 and 96-45.” 47 CFR § 54.703(c)(2). Nominations may be filed using the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), or by filing paper copies. · Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filings. · Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and one copy of each filing. If more than one docket or rulemaking number appears in the caption of this proceeding, filers must submit two additional copies for each additional docket or rulemaking number. · Filings can be sent by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail. All filings must be addressed to the Commission’s Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. · Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701. U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority mail must be addressed to 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554 · Effective March 19, 2020, and until further notice, the Commission no longer accepts any hand or messenger delivered filings. This is a temporary measure taken to help protect the health and safety of individuals, and to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19. See FCC Announces Closure of FCC Headquarters Open Window and Change in Hand-Delivery Policy, Public Notice, 35 FCC Rcd 2788 (Mar. 19, 2020). People with Disabilities: To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov, or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (TTY). In addition to the electronic or paper filing, copies of each nomination should be submitted to Charles Tyler, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, via email Charles.Tyler@fcc.gov. Each nomination should specify the position on the Board of Directors for which such nomination is submitted and should be accompanied by the nominee’s professional and biographical information, such as a résumé or professional biography. All nominations must be filed with the Office of the Secretary by October 24, 2023. For further information, please contact Hayley Steffen (hayley.steffen@fcc.gov) of the Wireline Competition Bureau, Office of the Bureau Chief, (202) 418-1586. - FCC - 2