6/21 update: Most of the FCC systems are back online; see separate story for details.
The Federal Communications Commission has alerted broadcasters to a disruption of its Universal Licensing System (ULS). Various services have been unavailable since Friday, June 9.
Affected systems include the commission’s License Manger, License Search, Application Search, Tower Construction Notification System, E-106 System, Antenna Structure Registration (ASR) Online Filing, ASR Application Search, ASR Registration Search, TOWAIR and all ULS Specialized Searches. The FCC says this disruption is due to technical issues. During this time, no applications may be filed through the database.
As of June 13, there was no exact timeline for recovery, although the commission said it anticipates resolving these problems “in the near term.” The systems were anticipated to be down until at least June 19. Now, as of June 20, ULS issues persist more than 10 days after they were first reported. Cris Alexander, the technical editor of Radio World Engineering Extra, asks, “How are we supposed to work?”
During this disruption, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau have provided initial guidance regarding affected filing deadlines and review periods, as well as resources available for emergency authorization requests.
All regulatory filings that needed to be or will need to be made in these systems starting June 9 will be extended until the FCC announces normal ULS operations, for at least three business days after access to the systems resumes.
For more information, read the full public notice.
