(a) Term of support. Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund or the Connect USVI Fund transitional mobile support shall be made available to eligible mobile carriers that elect to make a commitment to their eligible service areas for a term of up to 24 months to begin in the month immediately following the end of the carrier's Stage 2 mobile support. The term of support shall end the earlier of either 24 months following a carrier's authorization to begin receiving transitional support or the authorization of support under a long-term funding mechanism subsequently adopted by the Commission providing mobile wireless support in the carrier's respective territory.

(b) Election of support. Eligible mobile carriers as provided in § 54.1517 shall have a one-time option to elect to receive transitional mobile support from the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and the Connect USVI Fund for the eligible service area. To participate, an eligible carrier must submit an election to participate within 15 days following publication in the Federal Register of the order adopting transitional mobile support of the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and the Connect USVI Fund. Each carrier must submit its election to receive transitional support to the Commission through the Commission's Electronic Comment Filing System as well as by emailing a copy of its election to [email protected].

(c) Support amounts. An eligible carrier that elects to receive transitional support shall receive a pro rata share of its monthly Stage 2 mobile support as of May 1, 2023. Each eligible carrier may receive 50% of its Stage 2 monthly mobile support amount as of May 1, 2023 in the first 12-month period (months 1-12) of transitional support, and 25% of its current monthly mobile Stage 2 support as if May 1, 2023 in the second 12-month period (months 13-24) of transitional support. However, the provision of monthly transitional support may end prior to the completion of the 24-month term as provided in subsection (a).

(d) Return of unused support. Each eligible mobile carrier that elects to receive transitional support from the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund or the USVI Connect Fund will receive monthly installments of its pro rata share of mobile support over the support period provided in subsections (a) and (c). A mobile carrier that fails to use all its eligible transitional mobile support pursuant to section 54.1517 within one year of the end of the support term shall return an amount equal to the unused amount of transitional support to the Administrator within 30 days following the end of the term of support under paragraph (a).

[88 FR 29000, May 5, 2023]