Advocate Raises Concerns on How Gear Replacement Applications Are Processed

Lukas LaFuria’s David LaFuria, who represents smaller carriers, raised process concerns on the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (SCRP) in a call with FCC staff. The process is improving, but concerns remain, said a filing Tuesday in docket 21-232. “When a reimbursement request does not precisely match the original application, a carrier must amend its application,” LaFuria said: This “freezes the processing of the entire application, and it threatens the congressionally mandated timeline for completing the SCRP. The amendment process is also time-consuming for applicants, as it requires creating and updating a detailed and highly particular macro-enabled Excel spreadsheet each time.” He also urged the FCC to “develop a means for applicants to process a single invoice multiple times when the purchased goods are used in multiple projects.” The agency “could allow items purchased in bulk to be put into an ‘inventory’ category and removed in increments as needed on a site based on average unit cost,” he said.