FCC Announces Deadline for ILEC Study Area Boundary Recertifications

Every other year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs) to recertify their study area boundaries, and 2023 is a recertification year. The FCC announced that this year’s deadline is Friday, June 30, 2023. The recertification attests that a representative of the company has reviewed and determined that the shapefile for his or her company’s study area is accurate or that a state commission has made this review in situations in which state commissions are responsible for recertifying.

An ILEC must first review and confirm that the study area boundary data previously submitted is accurate. If accurate, then the ILEC must complete the recertification process by logging in to the FCC Licensing and Database with the company’s “FCC User” credentials and selecting the study area boundary recertification link.

Previously, some state commissions, including Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, North Dakota, Mississippi, and Nebraska, submitted each ILEC’s study area boundary shapefile. Over the years, some of the state commissions have passed the responsibility of recertification to the individual ILECs. Each of these state commissions has since developed a different process for handling the submission of revised boundaries and the recertification process, so it is best to be aware of the process if your company is located in one of these states.

Please note that any updates to shapefiles are due annually on March 15 for companies with changes to their study area boundary in the previous calendar year. For companies with study area changes in 2022 that missed the deadline, JSI can help submit the updated shapefile.

In addition, ILECs that bought or sold study areas should check the FCC map to verify that the company name and holding company name are correctly listed. If the names are incorrect, the company may need to resubmit a shapefile to the FCC.

For any questions concerning the study area boundary submission or recertification process, please contact Kim Waldvogel or Lans Chase by clicking the button below to connect via email or by calling 301-459-7590 during normal office hours to connect via telephone.

If your company missed the deadline or needs help tracking reporting deadlines, consider subscribing to JSI’s TrackNow service. Learn more by contacting Brittany Phillipo at Brittany.Phillipo@jsitel.com.