Voglio sapere a riguardo di…

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 13, 2021 / Rules and Regulations small providers to easily identify equipment and services for compliance with these rules.
224. Consistent with the statutory mandates in the Secure Networks Act, the Order establishes a program to reimburse eligible providers of advanced communications service for costs reasonably incurred to remove, replace, and dispose of covered equipment and services on the Covered List. As a general matter, when obtaining replacement products for reimbursement, the Commission expects eligible providers to obtain the lowestcost equipment that most closely replaces their existing equipment yet will allow, and indeed encourage, eligible providers replacing third generation and older equipment to obtain reimbursement for the cost of 4G
LTE replacement equipment that is 5Gready. This will put recipients, including smaller providers, on equal footing to their prior position before incurring the costs of removing and replacing the covered equipment and services and, ultimately, end up placing recipients in a slightly better position than they were before having to replace the covered equipment and services.
225. Although one commenter advocated that the Commission release reimbursement funding upfront to provide financial security for smaller providers, the Order determines that the Reimbursement Program will allocate funds on a rolling basis, similar to the administration of the broadcast incentive auction. This methodology, which sufficiently met the financial needs of providers, including smaller providers, in the broadcast incentive auction context, best achieves Congresss goal of mitigating the administrative burden and costs of the program while taking steps to avoid waste, fraud, and abuse. Consistent with the Secure Networks Act, the Order further sets a term of one year from the date upon which funding is received for recipients to remove, replace, and dispose of covered equipment or services, though the Secure Networks Act authorizes the Commission to grant six-month extensions of time, either on a general or case-by-case basis, for compliance.
226. Lastly, the Commission will update the list of suggested equipment and services contained on the Replacement List at least annually to ensure that the list stays current and transparent, which will help small and rural providers required to remove and replace covered equipment and services access advanced products and services when transitioning away from covered
VerDate Sep<11>2014

19:46 Jan 12, 2021

Jkt 253001

2941

47 CFR Part 54

equipment and services in their networks.
227. Pursuant to 1.3 of the Commissions rules, any provision of the Commissions rules may be waived by the Commission on its own motion or on petition if good cause therefor is shown. The Order permits entities to seek a waiver of the requirements if permitted by statute. In these ways, the Order seeks to minimize the economic burden of these rules on small entities.

Federal Communications Commission Marlene Dortch, Secretary.

IV. Ordering Clauses
Final Rules
228. Accordingly, it is ordered that, pursuant to the authority contained in sections 14, 201b, 214, 229, 254, 303r, 403, and 503 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151154, 201b, 214, 229, 254, 303r, 403, 503, sections 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 of the Secure Networks Act, 47 U.S.C. 1601, 1602, 1603, 1604, and 1606, section 889 of the 2019
NDAA, Public Law 115232, and 1.1
and 1.412 of the Commissions rules and 47 CFR 1.1, the Report and Order is adopted.
229. It is further ordered that Parts 1
and 54 of the Commissions rules are amended as set forth in the following.
230. It is further ordered that, pursuant to 1.4b1 and 1.103a of the Commissions rules, 47 CFR
1.4b1, 1.103a, the Report and Order shall be effective 60 days after publication of the Report and Order in the Federal Register, with the exception 1.50004c, d1, g, h2, jn, 1.50007, and 54.11, which contain new or modified information collection requirements that require review and approval by the OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Commission will announce the effective date of those sections in the Federal Register after receiving OMB approval.

For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal Communications Commission amends 47 CFR parts 1 and 54 as follows:

List of Subjects
The purpose of this subpart is to implement the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019, Public Law 116124, 133 Stat. 158.

47 CFR Part 1
Administrative practice and procedure, Civil rights, Claims, Communications, Communications common carriers, Communications equipment, Cuba, Drug abuse, Environmental impact statements, Equal access to justice, Equal employment opportunity, Federal buildings and facilities, Government employees, Historic preservation, Income taxes, Indemnity payments, Individuals with disabilities, internet, Investigations, Lawyers, Metric system, Penalties, Radio, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Security measures, Satellites, Telecommunications, Telephone, Television, Wages.

PO 00000

Frm 00039

Fmt 4701

Sfmt 4700

Communications common carriers, Health facilities, Infants and children, internet, Libraries, Puerto Rico, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Schools, Telecommunications, Telephone, Virgin Islands.

PART 1PRACTICE AND
PROCEDURE
1. The authority citation for part 1
continues to read as follows:

Authority: 47 U.S.C. chs. 2, 5, 9, 13; 28
U.S.C. 2461 note, unless otherwise noted.

2. Effective March 15, 2021, add Subpart DD consisting of 1.50000
through 1.50007 to read as follows:

Subpart DDSecure and Trusted Communications Networks Authority: 47 U.S.C. chs. 5, 15.
Sec.
1.50000 Purpose.
1.50001 Definitions.
1.50002 Covered List.
1.50003 Updates to the Covered List.
1.50004 Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program.
1.50005 Enforcement.
1.50006 Replacement List.
1.50007 Reserved
Subpart DDSecure and Trusted Communications Networks 1.50000

1.50001

Purpose.

Definitions.

For purposes of this subpart:
a Advanced communications service. The term advanced communications service means highspeed, switched, broadband telecommunications capability that enables users to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video telecommunications using any technology with connection speeds of at least 200 kbps in either direction.
b Appropriate national security agency. The term appropriate national security agency means:

E:FRFM13JAR4.SGM

13JAR4