Annual ETC Certification

Annual ETC Certification Petitions Due June 1, 2011 in Docket P999/PR-11-329

The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) must annually determine and certify to the FCC that each designated carrier eligible to receive Federal Universal Service Funding will use the funds only to provide, maintain, and upgrade the facilities and services for which the support is intended (see Federal rules 47 CFR 54.313 - 54.314).

The PUC set forth its current filing requirements for the annual certifications in Docket No. P999/M-05-741 "Order Setting Filing Requirements and Opening Proceeding To Consider Adopting FCC Standards For Designating Eligible Telecommunications Carriers" on July 21, 2005. The PUC also adopted an annual procedural schedule:

• June 1 - ETC certification petitions due
  

• August 1 - Initial Comments
  

• August 22 - Reply Comments
  

• October 3 - Commission Certification to the FCC.

The Commission's Order can be accessed via eDockets:

https://www.edockets.state.mn.us/EFiling/search.jsp
Search by Docket number using "05" for the year and "741" for the number.

Initial ETC Certification

Currently, telecommunications carriers must be designated "eligible telecommunications carriers" (ETCS) to qualify for subsidies from the Federal Universal Service Fund. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (Commission) has the primary responsibility for granting ETC designations, upon application, for the carriers who are subject to its jurisdiction. The Commission's current process for the review of initial ETC applications is set forth in its October 31, 2005 "Order Adopting FCC Requirements For Designating Eligible Telecommunications Carriers, as Modified" in Docket No. P999/M-05-1169, which can be accessed via eDockets: https://www.edockets.state.mn.us/EFiling/search.jsp
Search by Docket number using "05" for the year and "1169" for the number.