ARRL reports that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted changes to its rules to require that every holder of an FCC Registration Number (FRN) update their contact information in the CORES system (email and postal addresses) within ten business days of a change.
Because every FCC licensee—including amateur radio operators—must have an FRN to file applications, this requirement applies to all licensed amateurs. FRN contact information is handled separately and apart from contact information related to a license in the License Manager System. Both records must be kept up-to-date, and each requires a separate update.
Until now, no specific deadline existed for updating FRN or license contact information. Instead, the amateur rules at sections 97.21 and 97.23 provide that a license may be suspended or revoked “if FCC correspondence is returned as undeliverable because of an incorrect address/email.” These provisions remain in effect as well as the 10-day deadline applicable to FRN information.
If your FRN information is current and has not changed, no immediate action is required, but you must adhere to the 10-day rule for future changes. It is recommended to periodically check both the CORES and License Manager Systems to ensure contact information is accurate, even if no changes have occurred.
The new deadline [section 1.8002(b)(2) of the Commission’s Rules] became effective on February 5 as part of a proceeding that was limited to further constraining robocalls. Although the proceeding focused on robocall issues, the 10-day update requirement applies broadly to all FRN holders. On February 6 the FCC confirmed in a Public Notice that the new deadline applies to all FRN holders. The amendment replaces language adopted in 2001 that required FRN holders to keep their contact information up-to-date but had not imposed a deadline for doing so.
Numerous requests for clarification from non-robocaller interests led the FCC to issue a Public Notice on February 6 (see also PDF) clarifying that fines imposed on those subject to the robocall rules for not keeping contact information up-to-date do NOT apply to licensees such as radio amateurs, but that the 10-day deadline does apply to all FRN holders.
See the following resources for updating FRN and license information.
FCC Tutorial on updating FRN information:
https://apps.fcc.gov/cores/html/Update_FRN_Information.htm
ARRL information on how to update license information:
https://www.arrl.org/call-sign-renewals-or-changes
For assistance, call the FCC FRN Help Desk: (877) 480-3201 (available 8 AM to 6 PM ET).