On March 31, 2025, the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) issued a Public Notice reminding high-cost support recipients that the results of first quarter 2025 network performance tests must be filed and certified in USAC’s Performance Measures Module (PMM) by April 15, 2025. Carriers that did not perform network performance tests for any reason and as a result do not have network performance tests to certify must notify the WCB by April 15, 2025. Notifications should be emailed to ConnectAmerica@fcc.gov and hccerts@usac.org. The WCB Public Notice also included a reminder of additional future certification deadlines as follows:
* July 1, 2025 – Results of the first, second, third, and fourth quarters of 2024 network performance tests must be certified.
* July 15, 2025 – Results of second quarter 2025 network performance tests must be filed and certified.
* October 15, 2025 – Results of third quarter 2025 network performance tests must be filed and certified.
* January 15, 2025 – Results of fourth quarter 2025 network performance tests must be filed and certified.
The WCB Public Notice cautions that carriers subject to network performance testing that certify after the deadline will face a support reduction (i.e., support that will not be restored) pursuant to FCC Rules, Part 54.313(j).
Over the course of the past several weeks, numerous carriers have been notified by USAC of impending support reductions pursuant to Part 54.313(j) for failure to certify network performance tests related to all or certain quarters of 2023 by the deadline of July 1, 2024. Many of these carriers have filed requests for waivers to avoid reductions to their high-cost support and some of these requests have been granted. Several of the waiver requests that we’ve reviewed cite the fact that the performance testing data was filed on a timely basis but problems interacting with the PMM did not allow for the certification of the timely filed performance testing data. Other waiver requests cite the inadvertent failure to submit certifications for certain 2023 testing data by the July 1, 2024 deadline, even though the data was uploaded to the PMM on a timely basis.
To avoid reductions in high-cost support, it’s very important that carriers strictly comply with the filing and certification of network performance testing data on a timely basis per the dates outlined above. ICORE can assist your Company in this regard. Please contact Chris Ulmer at culmer@icorellc.com if you’re interested in having ICORE assist your Company in meeting the network performance testing filing and certification process.
