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.
Specifically, those who are already subscribed to US01 have to select a new counting authority.
The FCC announced that it will give up performing 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.
In the meantime, the ones using Inmarsat-C terminals under the IMO’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.
Therefore, the terminals to try transmit after this date, will immediately become barred. Affected GMDSS terminals will still be capable of transmitting a distress alert.
In the meantime, the Commission will send written notification, using the contact information on file, to all users—governmental and non-governmental—that used the FCC as an accounting authority since January 1, 2016, regarding the need to select a private accounting authority.
