On September 21, 2022, the FCC released an Order addressing requests from three petitioners seeking waivers of the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) program third application filing window deadline. The Commission granted the petitioner’s requests, stating that the applicants were unable to timely file their ECF Form 471 applications due to the Universal Service Administrative Company’s (USAC) delays in resolving technical issues that prevented the three applicants from being able to access the ECF Portal before the May 13, 2022, filing deadline.
In the Order, the FCC noted that, “…We find that USAC’s delays in resolving these technical issues ultimately contributed to the late filing of their third window ECF FCC Form 471 applications and present special circumstances that warrant a deviation from the Commission’s rules. We therefore waive the ECF Program’s third application filing window deadline for the three petitioners…. We note, however, that this relief is very limited, and we do not expect to grant additional waivers of the ECF third window application filing deadline on this basis absent a showing of special circumstances.”
The FCC Order can be viewed here.
