Today’s Regulatory Mix: FCC Webinar for the Secure and Trusted Communication Networks Reimbursement Program,  Partial Deactivation of DIRS for Hurricanes Ida and Nicholas

 

FCC Webinar for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program 

The FCC will host a public webinar on the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (Reimbursement Program) starting at 10:30 a.m. ET on Monday, September 27, 2021. The webinar will provide an overview of the Reimbursement Program, provider eligibility information, and application procedures for participating parties. Specifically, the FCC will walk through the online portal for filing Application Requests for Funding Allocation, the User Guide for parties participating in the Reimbursement Program, and the outreach tool kit materials developed to increase awareness about the Reimbursement Program. Registration is not required for the webinar. 

As directed by the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019 (Secure Networks Act), as amended, the Commission established the $1.9 billion Reimbursement Program to reimburse providers of advanced communications services with ten million or fewer customers for costs incurred in the removal, replacement, and disposal of covered communications equipment or services from their networks that pose a national security risk. Covered communications equipment or services eligible for Reimbursement Program support is limited to communications equipment or services produced or provided by Huawei Technologies Company or ZTE Corporation that were obtained by providers on or before June 30, 2020. 

Partial Deactivation of DIRS for Hurricanes Ida and Nicholas 

The FCC has deactivated its Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) for the following areas affected by Hurricanes Ida and Nicholas:  

Louisiana: Acadia, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Calcasieu, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Orleans, Pointe Coupee, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Vermilion, Washington, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana. 

Texas: Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Hardin, Harris, Jefferson, Liberty, Matagorda, Orange, and Wharton. 

Communications providers do not need to provide any additional reporting in DIRS for these areas in Louisiana and Texas with respect to Hurricanes Ida and Nicholas.  

DIRS remains activated in the following parishes in Louisiana:  

Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Mary, Tangipahoa, and Terrebonne. 

 

The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.