The Federal Communications Commission released a Public Notice announcing a transition and outreach plan to facilitate its withdrawal as an accounting authority in the United States in the maritime mobile and maritime mobile satellite services.

Customers currently subscribed to US01 must select a new accounting authority. The FCC announced that it will stop performing the functions of an accounting authority for international maritime mobile communications on April 22, 2020. Users who have relied on the FCC as an accounting authority need to affirmatively select a different accounting authority prior to that date.

Those using Inmarsat-C terminals under the International Maritime Organization’s Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), Long Range Identification and Tracking, and Ship Security and Alert System that have selected AAIC US01 when the terminal was commissioned will be affected by this change. Such terminals attempting to transmit after this date will immediately become barred. Affected GMDSS terminals will still be capable of transmitting a distress alert.

Visit the International Telecommunication Union’s website for available alternative accounting authorities. Navigate to to “administration” and select “USA.”

For full details, view or download the FCC’s public notice.

This blog is not a replacement or substitute for the formal posting of regulations and updates or existing processes for receiving formal feedback of the same. Links provided on this blog will direct the reader to official source documents, such as the Federal Register, Homeport and the Code of Federal Regulations. These documents remain the official source for regulatory information published by the Coast Guard.