fcc form 555 - usac.org · fcc form 555 online filing user guide . review and certify for filers...

FCC Form 555 Online Filing User Guide

FCC FORM 555 ONLINE USER GUIDE Last Modified: December 2015

CONTENTS

• Filing Requirements • Getting Started

o Important Tips • E-File

o Accessing E-File o Accessing FCC Form 555

• Filing Methods o Single Form Entry

Review and Certify o Bulk Upload

Certifying a Bulk Entry


FILING REQUIREMENTS

47 C.F.R § 54.416 (b): All eligible telecommunications carriers must annually provide the results of their recertification efforts, performed pursuant to § 54.410(f), to the FCC and USAC. Eligible telecommunications carriers designated as such by one or more states pursuant to § 54.201 must also provide, on an annual basis, the results of their recertification efforts to state commissions for subscribers residing in those states where the state designated the eligible telecommunications carrier. Eligible telecommunications carriers must also provide their annual recertification results for subscribers residing on Tribal lands to the relevant Tribal governments. The FCC Form 555 is due annually on January 31.

GETTING STARTED

• Recommended browsers: Chrome, Firefox, IE 10 • Review the FCC Form 555 instructions, available on the Forms page of the website

(www.usac.org/li/tools/forms/default.aspx). • Have your E-File log-in credentials available. • Have information required to complete the FCC Form 555, such as results from annual subscriber recertification,

February FCC Form 497, etc.

IMPORTANT TIPS

• The online form is designed to help filers correctly report the results of the recertification. Questions will guide

filers to the blocks they should complete. • The online form automatically does calculations for the filer. • Error messages tell filers if they missed a required field. • Users may review a PDF of your form at any time. • FCC Form 555 authorized users include:

o A 497 Officer will be able to enter data and certify for the FCC Form 555 o A 497 User will only be able to enter data on the FCC Form 555

• 497 Officers only need to navigate to the “Review and Signature” page of the form to complete the certification if a filer with FCC Form 497 user entitlements has already completed the form for the ETC.

• To review a form after it has been certified, select the PDF icon on the search results page. Selecting Click to Revise will save a new draft of the form that the ETC’s 497 Officer must recertify.

http://www.usac.org/li/tools/forms/default.aspx


E-FILE

The FCC Form 555 can be accessed and completed by the FCC Form 498 contacts (either the General Contact in Block 2 or the Company Officer in Block 18 of the FCC Form 498) and authorized users that have been granted access by the contacts listed on the FCC Form 498 to create, modify, and submit the filing. If you still have questions regarding FCC Form 498, setting up user roles or entitlements:

• Contact USAC’s Customer Operations team at (888) 641-8722 • Select “Option 3” (FCC Form 498 support) • Select “Option 1” (logging into E-File)

ACCESSING E-FILE

Please Note: Screenshots will vary slightly from browser to browser Log in to E-File with your user ID and password and click on the box to accept USAC’s policy.

ACCESSING FCC FORM 555

After logging-in, you will see the Information Center screen. On the left-hand side, click the FCC Form 555 link.

https://forms.universalservice.org/usaclogin/login.asp


On the next screen, accept USAC’s terms and conditions.

FILING METHODS

There are two methods by which you may file: single or bulk entry.

SINGLE FORM ENTRY

Click on the FCC Form 555 Search link in the left-hand menu. Using the provided filters, search for the SAC for which you wish to submit the filing.

Click New Entry under the Action column for the desired SAC filing. If you wish to revise a previously submitted filing, you will need to select Click to Revise under the Action column.


For a new entry, select the company’s DBA, Marketing, or Branding Name from the drop down menu. • If no such name exists, or if the name is the same as the ETC name, then select Other from the drop down menu

and enter N/A. • If the current DBA, Marketing or Branding Name is not available, then select Other from the drop down menu

and enter the correct name. Then, select the correct response to the question asking whether or not the reporting company has affiliated ETCs.

• If you answered no, click Save and Continue. • If you answered yes, select New Row, as shown below, and enter the SAC of the affiliated ETC.

a. For each additional affiliated ETC, select New Row and enter the SAC of the affiliated ETC. b. If the reporting company has more than 10 affiliated ETCs, navigate between pages of the list by selecting

Next and Previous. The Next and Previous buttons are not activated until enough affiliated ETCs are listed to require additional pages. To delete affiliated SAC rows, click the [X] under the Actions column.

Once all affiliated ETCs have been entered, click Save and Continue.


SECTION 2, BLOCKS A TO E In Section 2 Blocks A to E, all ETCs must select a response.

• If you select No and click Save and Continue, you will bypass the data entry fields and move to Section 3. • If you select Yes, enter data in Blocks A to D. Block E automatically calculates based on the data entered in

Blocks A to D. Save that data and move to Section 2 Blocks F to L by selecting Save and Continue.

SECTION 2, BLOCKS F TO L

• If you did not claim subscribers on the February FCC Form 497, then you will bypass this section. • If you did claim subscribers and need to complete Blocks F to L, begin by responding to the question, “Were any

subscribers reviewed by a state administrator, ETC access to eligibility database, or by USAC?”


If you select No, you will be provided with Blocks F to J. Populate blocks F, G, and I. Blocks H and J will automatically calculate. Then click Save and Continue to move on Section 3.

If you select Yes, you will be provided with Blocks K and L to complete and will be required to answer the question, “Did the ETC directly contact any subscribers to recertify eligibility through attestation?”

• If you select No, there is no additional data to enter for this section and you can click Save and Continue to move on to Section 3.

• If you select Yes, you will be provided with Blocks F to J. Report the subscribers directly recertified by your company here.

Save your Section 2 Blocks F to L data and move to Section 3 by selecting Save and Continue.


SECTION 3 All data in Section 3 is pre-populated based on your Section 2 entries. Review the data and navigate to Section 4 by selecting Save and Continue.

SECTION 4 Select a response to the question, “Is the ETC Pre-Paid?”

• If you select No, you do not need to enter data for Section 4. Click Save and Continue. • If you select Yes, enter data for the number of subscribers de-enrolled for non-usage for each month.

• Save your Section 4 data and move to the Review and Signature page by selecting Save and Continue.


REVIEW AND CERTIFY FOR FILERS WITH FCC FORM 497 USER ENTITLEMENTS Review the data entered in Section 2.

If you want to make changes, navigate to the sections of the form that require edits using the Save and Go Back button or the section links at the top of the online form.

Once you have reviewed the data:

• Enter your name in the Person Completing This Certification Form field. • Enter your phone number in the Contact Phone Number field. • Save and exit the form by selecting the Save and Exit button. The form is now available for the 497 Officer to

review and certify.


FOR FILERS WITH FCC FORM 497 OFFICER ENTITLEMENTS If the data entry was completed by a 497 User, the 497 Officer can review and certify the data by navigating to the FCC Form 555 menu page, selecting FCC Form 555 Search from the left hand navigation panel, and clicking Edit. Then the Officer can select the Review and Signature tab. Read Section 1 and make the required certification by entering your initials, as appropriate.

Review the data in Section 2.

If you want to make changes, navigate to the sections of the form that require edits using the Save and Go Back button or the section links at the top of the online form.

Make the required certifications by entering your initials, as appropriate.


Navigate to the top of the page and select Preview PDF in order to review the FCC Form 555 in its entirety before certifying. If you want to make changes, return to the online form and navigate to the sections of the form that require edits using the Save and Go Back button or the section links at the top of the online form.

When the form is ready to certify, navigate to the certification block at the bottom of the page and complete the Printed Name and Title of Officer and Email Address of Officer Fields. Note: If a 497 User completed the data entry, these fields will be prepopulated. If the 497 Officer completed the data entry, he/she should complete these fields.

Select the Certify button to submit the certified form.

BULK UPLOAD ENTRY

GETTING STARTED

• Navigate to the Forms page of the Lifeline Program website. • Download and save the current year FCC Form 555 Bulk Upload Template file. • Prepare the template by populating each column with the data for one SAC and by entering 1 SAC per row.

Follow the formatting guidelines provided in the header row of the template.

The information for each column/block of the form should be provided according to the FCC Form 555 instructions. Note:

• Only the current year Bulk Upload Template will be accepted. Additionally, calculation fields on the form are not included--these calculations will be automatically populated after your information has been uploaded.

• Carriers should keep in mind the following tips when completing the templates, otherwise the upload will not be successful:

o Do not modify the columns. o The first row must remain as column headers. o Data should be entered on the second row and each row thereafter. o Each row of data must be in the proper sequence matching the column titles and compliant with formats

outlined in the FCC Form 555 instructions. o If you are copying and pasting from a previous year’s upload template, an error may result due to

changes in column format and may prevent the template from properly uploading to the system. Consider pasting so the format does not change or manually entering the data into the 2014 program year upload template.

http://www.usac.org/li/tools/forms/default.aspx


UPLOAD THE TEMPLATE Once you have completed and saved the template to your computer, select the FCC Form 555 Bulk Upload link from the left hand navigation panel.

• Select the appropriate data year in the drop down menu. • Select the Click to Upload button at the top of the screen. • In the pop-up window, select Browse to navigate to and chose your completed template. • In the pop-up window, select Upload.

• Review the data and correct any errors. The following errors will prevent the template from being uploaded: o Use of an incorrect template; o Inclusion of duplicate SACs; o Invalid SACs; o Presence of invalid values; o Data year selected does not match data year on template.

• Review the data, then select Save. • Upon clicking Save you will either receive a message that your data has been saved and is now available for

review by a certifying officer, or you will be provided with errors that will need to be corrected prior to saving.

Successful submission:

Submission with errors:


Note: After submitting a bulk upload template, you can review the data for individual SACs by returning to the FCC Form 555 menu page, selecting FCC Form 555 Search from the left hand navigation panel, and searching for the desired SAC(s).

CERTIFYING A BULK ENTRY Certification may only be completed by filers with 497 Officer entitlements. After your bulk template has been successfully uploaded, your filing is now ready for review and certification. Navigate to the FCC Form 555 home page, and click on FCC Form 555 Bulk Certify link from the left hand navigation panel.

The SACs that are ready to be reviewed and certified will be populated in the table. Select the SAC you wish to certify, then click Next.

Review the data for each SAC, then click Next.


Complete the Section 1 certification—this is required for all ETCs.

Complete the Section 2 certifications as they apply to your ETC.


Finally, complete the Officer Certification by entering in your name and title, as well as your email address. Then click, Certify.

This page will identify which SACs, if any, were unable to be recertified, and which SACs were successfully recertified. To view PDFs of these filings, click FCC Form 555 Menu and select FCC Form 555 Search from the left hand navigation panel, and search for the desired SAC(s).

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