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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 160 / Monday, August 23, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
Reimbursement Program, eligible providers are required to submit initial estimates of the costs to be reasonably incurred for the removal, replacement, and disposal of covered communications equipment or services to participate in the Program. In the 2020 Supply Chain Order, the Commission directed the Wireline Competition Bureau to establish an initial 30-day filing window for the submission of cost estimates and to establish additional filing windows as necessary. The accompanying rules adopted, however, do not specify a period of time for the filing window.
Given the complexity of the Reimbursement Program, the Commission wants to ensure that applicants have sufficient opportunity to familiarize themselves with and utilize the application filing portal.
Therefore, the Commission clarifies that the Wireline Competition Bureau has discretion to establish an initial filing window that provides sufficient time for applicants to submit cost estimates, which may be for a period longer than 30 days if a longer window is needed to help applicants navigate the application filing portal or to compile the necessary documentation required for the filing requirements.
86. Individual Extensions. The Commission further clarifies the factors the Wireline Competition Bureau, with the assistance of the Fund Administrator, will consider when evaluating whether to grant an individual extension of the removal, replacement, and disposal term available to program participants.
Program participants are required to complete the removal, replacement and disposal of the equipment within one year of the initial disbursement. Its rules permit participants to petition the Wireline Competition Bureau for an extension of the removal, replacement, and disposal term prior to the expiration of the term. The Wireline Competition Bureau will generally review such requests on a case-by-case basis, and may grant an extension for up to six months after finding that, due to no fault of such recipient, such recipient is unable to complete the permanent removal, replacement, and disposal by the end of the term. The Wireline Competition Bureau may grant more than one extension request to a recipient if circumstances warrant.
87. The Commission acknowledges that there are circumstances that may increase the difficulty of a Reimbursement Program participants ability to complete removal, replacement, and disposal within the one-year term. For example, the
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Commission understands that some replacement options, such as ORAN or virtual RAN, may require additional time for system integration. For program participants choosing an ORAN or virtual RAN replacement option, the Commission directs the Wireline Competition Bureau, when evaluating an extension request, to consider the high likelihood of additional time needed as a significant factor favoring an extension. Additionally, the Commission understands the concern some commenters raise regarding the availability of replacement technology and semiconductors. USTelecom requests that the Commission acknowledge that the current shortage of semiconductors could impact the availability of replacement equipment, thereby warranting a waiver. NTCA
highlights delays in obtaining equipment that are impacting providers of all sizes, but especially smaller providers who are forced to further compete with larger operators for labor and equipment. The Commission agrees with these commenters and direct the Wireline Competition Bureau to consider limited availability of the replacement options as a factor for whether to grant an individual extension request, including impacts caused by a shortage of semiconductors.
A commenter raised another potential factor that may delay completion within the one-year team. Union Telephone Company argues that providers of advanced communications service may need to modify or replace their outdated network infrastructure, including cellular towers, to comply with current structural standards, which will also require federal permitting approval. The Commission directs the Wireline Competition Bureau to consider delays in federal permitting as one potential factor to consider when reviewing requests for extensions of time.
88. Vantage Point Solutions also identifies possible delays caused by equipment availability, weather considerations for construction, and cash flow and replacement funding distribution timing that may specifically impact providers in Alaska. It asks the Commission to consider extensions of time for these providers to complete the removal, replacement, and disposal of covered equipment beyond the term set by the Reimbursement Program.
89. The Commission acknowledges that certain locations will have challenges meeting the term deadline due to weather or other issues. The Commission further recognizes that the claims raised by USTelecom and others regarding the availability of semiconductors are valid, and that
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certain situations may impact smaller or rural providers such that they are unable to meet the timing requirements for removal, replacement, and disposal through the Reimbursement Program.
The examples included in this item are not an exhaustive list of factors that the Wireline Competition Bureau will consider in the event a provider files an individual extension request. The Commission directs the Wireline Competition Bureau to consider all factors included in an individual extension request when evaluating the request. Additionally, the Commission directs the Wireline Competition Bureau to review individual extension requests on a case-by-case basis. As the Commission found in the 2020 Supply Chain Order, however, the Secure Networks Act authorizes the Commission to grant extensions of time to allow providers of advanced communications services to complete the removal, replacement, and disposal of covered communications equipment and services, either as a general sixmonth extension to all recipients of reimbursement funding, or as individual extensions on a case-by-case basis. In the event circumstances regarding the availability of equipment do not improve, or if there is sufficient justification to warrant an extension, such information may influence the Wireline Competition Bureaus consideration of a six-month extension, whether for all program participants or on an individual, case-by-case basis.
90. General Extension. The Secure Networks Act authorizes the Commission to grant a six-month extension of the removal, replacement, and disposal term deadline to all recipients of reimbursements . . . if the Commission finds that the supply of replacement communications equipment or services needed by the recipients to achieve the purposes of the Reimbursement Program are inadequate. Several commenters have recommended that the Commission proactively grant this six-month general extension immediately, citing supply chain and labor shortages and the potential non-availability of semiconductors due to the impacts of the COVID19 pandemic and the increased demand for scarce resources driven by the requirement to remove, replace, and dispose of covered communications equipment and services. However, the Commission finds such requests to extend a deadline that is not yet established premature, and run counter to the intent of Congress of having a one-year removal, replacement, and disposal term.

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