The FCC released instructions for its new Form 477, to collect in...
The FCC released instructions for its new Form 477, to collect information about broadband deployment by census tract. Screenshots and answers to frequently asked questions are also now available on the FCC Web site at www.fcc.gov/form477, the commission said…
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Thursday. The new Web-based interface through which filers will submit forms will be available on fcc.gov “as soon as possible,” the agency said. Filers must submit it by March 2. The FCC’s public notice made no mention of a request by several major rural associations to extend the due date by 120 days (CD Feb 12 p11). The companies argued an extension was warranted because the new form still isn’t available on the FCC site. An FCC spokesman declined comment. Rural carriers are grateful for the FCC’s outreach efforts, but the new information doesn’t get rid of the “logistical problems of filling in the form at such short notice,” said Steve Pastorkovich, senior policy analyst at the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies. OPASTCO, one of the rural-carrier groups that asked for a 120-day extension, was making its case on the eighth floor Thursday morning, he said. The group understands the FCC’s desire for speed, he said, but a “short extension” would improve the accuracy of the information, he said.