The FCC has issued a new order that begins the long-awaited transition of 911 from old TDM (time-division multiplexed) phone lines to modern, IP-based Next Generation 911 (NG911) networks.
This change affects two groups most directly: Originating Service Providers (OSPs)—the phone, wireless, and VoIP companies that carry 911 calls—and Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs)—the 911 centers that field those calls.
What’s Changing?
In today’s fast-paced telecom environment, speed and accuracy are everything. Customers expect new services to be activated in minutes, not days — and they don’t have patience for delays caused by manual order entry, data mismatches, or design errors. Likewise, carriers want intercarrier services disconnected as soon as a disconnect order is received in order to reduce access charges.
While time is critical, carriers are dealing with increasingly complex service portfolios, multi-vendor networks, and ever-changing regulatory requirements. Traditional manual workflows simply can’t keep up. That’s where AI-based bots and workflow automation come in — transforming the way telecom providers handle the ordering, provisioning and billing of new services.
As broadband deployment accelerates across the U.S., ISPs receiving federal or state broadband funding face strict testing and reporting requirements. Compliance is essential to maintain funding, avoid penalties, and ensure communities receive reliable, high-speed internet. This guide explains what ISPs need to know about BEAD, CAF, and state broadband program requirements.
BEAD Program Testing & Reporting Requirements
The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program provides significant funding for last-mile broadband deployment. Taking funds requires that ISPs comply with NTIA performance standards, including:
In telecom, profitability depends on tightly managing costs while complying with FCC regulations. One hidden drain on revenue comes from relying on safe harbor allocations when reporting traffic for the Universal Service Fund (USF) and related programs.
While safe harbor is convenient, it often causes carriers to overstate their interstate revenue and therefore overpay into federal contribution programs. With the FCC’s proposed contribution factor for Q4 2025 set at 38.1%, the financial impact of these overpayments is higher than ever.
How Do Companies Deal with Knowledge Walking Out the Door?
Telecom networks are built on decades of infrastructure and processes—many of which still rely on aging equipment and legacy platforms. For years, these systems have been maintained by seasoned engineers who know them inside and out. But as those experts retire, providers face a growing challenge: critical institutional knowledge is disappearing faster than they can develop new talent.
The risks are significant:
With their vast network of real estate, extensive fiber connections, and established power infrastructure, telecommunications companies (telcos) are uniquely positioned to repurpose their underutilized central offices (COs) into hubs for artificial intelligence (AI). This strategic move can create new revenue streams, optimize network performance, and position telcos as key players in the growing AI economy.
Most of us can remember those boring looking red brick buildings with no windows that had a sign affixed “Bell Telephone Co”. Traditionally, those central offices served as critical nodes for routing voice and data traffic. However, with the shift to cloud-based services and more efficient network technologies, many of these facilities are now underutilized. Over the past ten years many of these properties were sold to save expenses on power, and real estate taxes. Many were located in choice urban or suburban areas, and the telcos took advantage of rising real estate prices when they wanted to shed expenses.
The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program has already seen major policy shifts moving away from fiber-only mandates toward a more technology-neutral, cost-per-location model. While BEAD is the latest government sponsored broadband deployment fund, it’s not the only game in town. Providers funded through Connect America Fund (CAF) and the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) also face evolving compliance expectations.
Across all three programs, one thing is certain: providers must continually test and validate their speed and latency performance. Here’s why it matters.
You have undoubtedly heard about the 911 outage in Pennsylvania in July. This is precisely the kind of event that motivated the FCC to issue new directives on 911 monitoring and reporting, effective in April.
What does the FCC order require of carriers?
In order to comply, carriers are required to have systems in place that provide real-time reporting, automated alerts, and compliance assurance.
Telecom operations run on procedures, documentation, and standards. Network design, provisioning, testing, and circuit cutovers all happen thanks to experienced personnel. What happens when a new person joins the team? How do new employees get up to speed on the correct methods, procedures, and workflows when procedures often live in disconnected manuals, PDFs, binders, and legacy systems?
That’s where ATS comes in helping telecom companies transform scattered documentation into organized, accessible, and actionable knowledge.
You have undoubtedly heard about the 911 outage in Pennsylvania in July. This is precisely the kind of event that motivated the FCC to issue new directives on 911 monitoring and reporting effective in April.