Updated 06/14/2023

In an email to all VECs, the FCC indicated that a Public Notice was issued by the Commission on June 13, 2023.

FCC Public Notice DA 23-506:  UNIVERSAL LICENSING, TOWER CONSTRUCTION NOTIFICATION, E-106, AND ANTENNA STRUCTURE REGISTRATION SYSTEMS UNAVAILABLE; FILING DEADLINES EXTENDED

The notice states that the FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS), Tower Construction Notification System (TCNS), E-106 System, and Antenna Structure Registration System (ASR) have been unavailable since approximately 6:30 p.m. EDT on Friday, June 9, due to technical issues that the agency anticipates resolving in the near term.

Further the FCC is extending deadlines for regulatory filings in ULS and ASR because parties have not and will not be able to make electronic filings or view the contents of the affected systems while they are unavailable, we are extending the filing deadlines for all regulatory filings that needed to be or will need to be made in these systems starting June 9, 2023 and until the Commission announces ULS operations, for at least three business days after access to the systems resumes.

The FCC’s Commission Registration (CORES) System used to pay fees is unaffected and will remain operational and available to pay any regulatory fee or application fee payments during this period.

The FCC ULS systems affected that are used by amateurs are the Electronic Batch Filing (EBF) used by VECs for new and upgrade license submissions and club license applications, Application Search, License Search, and the License Manager system used for filing applications directly with the FCC.

At this time, the FCC has stated they do not have a target for the ULS systems to be back online.

 Original story below:
6/13/2023

The FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS), which includes Electronic Batch Filing (EBF) used by VECs for new and upgrade license submissions and club license applications, Application Search, License Search, License Manager system used for filing applications directly with the FCC, Tower Construction Notification System, E-106 System, Antenna Structure Registration Online Filing and searches, TOWAIR and all ULS Specialized Searches, are currently down.

The FCC’s EBF and License Manager Filing systems have stopped accepting and processing all amateur radio exam session files and applications. The EBF system has not processed any VEC license applications and examination session files since Monday afternoon. The other systems have not been available since Friday June 9 at the close of business.

ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, said her office contacted the FCC staff, which said systems are down due to maintenance but did not estimate how long the systems would be down. “As soon as the FCC staff corrects the EBF system problem, we will immediately file the backlog via the automated system, which would take only a few hours or less to release,” Somma estimated. When the License Manager system is again available, amateurs will be able to file license renewals, vanity call sign applications, and other license updates online directly with the FCC.