FCC Provides Updated Answers on Special Access Data Submission Requirement

The FCC released an update of a document answering dozens of potential questions on the agency’s collection of data on special access service rates. Covered businesses with more than 1,500 employees are required to submit data by Jan. 29, smaller businesses, by Feb. 27. The FCC warned covered providers and purchasers of special access data that there's a potentially heavy price to pay for not making required submissions by the due date. “Failure to comply with these data reporting requirements may subject parties to monetary forfeitures of up to $160,000 for each violation or each day of a continuing violation, up to a maximum of $1,575,000 for any single act or failure to act that is a continuing violation,” the FCC said Tuesday. The agency said it plans to use the information it receives to do a “comprehensive market analysis that will look at the number [of] special access providers, facilities, service offerings, revenues, and expenditures nationwide in all price cap areas.”