Today’s Regulatory Mix:  FY 2021 Regulatory Fees, Iowa Announces Broadband Grant Recipients

Fiscal Year 2021 Regulatory Fees 

Fiscal Year 2021 regulatory fees are due September 24, 2021. The regulatory fees for interstate telecom providers have gone up, primarily due to the cost of the FCC’s ongoing efforts to create better broadband mapping. To help guide educate providers about the regulatory fee exemptions and amounts owed, the FCC published a series of Fact Sheets on General ExemptionsInterstate Telecommunications Service ProvidersCommercial Wireless ServicesInternational and Satellite Services, and Cable Television Systems

Inteserra Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 9/15/21

 

Iowa Announces Broadband Grant Recipients 

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced the recipients of the state’s broadband grants program. Of 178 applications, thirty-nine have been awarded a total of $97,500,000 for broadband infrastructure as part of the latest Empower Rural Iowa Broadband Grant Program. Award announcements can be found here

“Expanding broadband across our state continues to be a top priority,” said Gov. Reynolds. “It is clear by the sheer volume and scope of applications that the need is there. Today’s award announcement will go a long way toward meeting that need, and we won’t stop here.” Due to the overwhelming amount of interest and success of this program, the State of Iowa will expedite a new grant opportunity utilizing ARPA federal funds to build upon the $100 million in state funding for this grant program. Details on this new grant opportunity will be released in the near future. 

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.