# US FCC Form 499 Telecom Provider Intelligence (`starshaped_bullsnake/us-fcc-form499-telecom-provider-directory-change-intelligence`) Actor

Search FCC Form 499 filer records and monitor privacy-minimised regulatory changes.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/starshaped\_bullsnake/us-fcc-form499-telecom-provider-directory-change-intelligence.md
- **Developed by:** [Starshape Tools](https://apify.com/starshaped_bullsnake) (community)
- **Categories:** Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 fcc filer record or change signals

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## US FCC Form 499 Telecom Provider Directory & Change Intelligence

Use the official FCC Form 499 Filer Database as a privacy-minimised directory/search API, or monitor factual changes to FCC filer records. The Actor is designed for telecom vendors, regulatory-data workflows, B2B enrichment pipelines, and AI agents that need source-backed filer identity and segmentation without redistributing the FCC contact/person blocks.

### What you get

- **Directory** — current FCC filer records, with active FCC filer records returned by default.
- **Search** — deterministic case-insensitive substring search over the FCC `Legal Name of Reporting Entity` plus exact Filer ID, FRN, communications-type, status, and jurisdiction filters.
- **Monitor** — stateful change signals using `Filer 499 ID` as the source-native filer-record key.
- **Sample** — deterministic synthetic FILER records and monitor signals with zero FCC HTTP and zero production-state access.

The official source is the [FCC Form 499 Filer Database](https://apps.fcc.gov/cgb/form499/499a.cfm). Runtime acquisition uses the FCC's documented complete XML endpoint (`XML=TRUE` with no additional search parameters) before any user filters are applied.

### Privacy-minimised output

V1 intentionally emits only these source-supported regulatory identity / segmentation fields:

- `filerId`
- `frn` (secondary identifier; it is not treated as unique)
- `reportingEntityName` — the FCC `Legal Name of Reporting Entity`
- `filerStatus`
- `principalCommunicationsType`
- `serviceJurisdictions`
- source/detection timestamps and source URL

The Actor does **not** output DBA/trade/former names, street addresses, officer/person names, agent-for-service names, phone/fax/email, EIN/tax identifiers, external person enrichment, or inferred legal form. A Form 499 reporting entity can be a sole proprietor, so `reportingEntityName` can itself be a person's name in its public FCC regulatory context. The Actor does not attempt to classify names as people or companies.

### FCC filer-record status

`filerStatus` is strictly an FCC Form 499 **filer-record status** derived from the official source:

- `ACTIVE` — the FCC record has no `end_date`.
- `NO_LONGER_ACTIVE` — the FCC record has an `end_date`.

Phase-A validation showed that the Filer ID set with blank `end_date` matched the FCC official **Active Only** search set. This status must not be interpreted as a claim that a business is currently operating, closed, compliant, non-compliant, licensed, or unlicensed.

### Modes

#### `directory`

Fetches and validates the complete FCC XML, then filters the privacy-minimised records. Directory mode never opens or updates monitor state. Default `filerStatus` is `ACTIVE`; with the measured Phase-A baseline this corresponds to about 9,004 active FCC filer records. Set `filerStatus` to `ALL` and raise `maxItems` when a complete all-status directory is desired.

Example:

```json
{
  "mode": "directory",
  "filerStatus": "ACTIVE",
  "principalCommunicationsTypes": ["Interconnected VoIP"],
  "serviceJurisdictions": ["CA"],
  "maxItems": 10000
}
```

#### `search`

Uses the same complete acquisition and validation path, then applies a deterministic substring search over `reportingEntityName`. Search mode requires a non-empty `search` value and never touches monitor state.

```json
{
  "mode": "search",
  "search": "telecom",
  "filerStatus": "ACTIVE",
  "maxItems": 250
}
```

#### `monitor`

The first valid monitor run stores a complete privacy-minimised snapshot and emits zero business signals. Later valid runs may emit only:

- `FILER_ADDED`
- `FILER_STATUS_CHANGED`
- `COMMUNICATION_TYPE_CHANGED`
- `SERVICE_JURISDICTION_CHANGED`

V1 deliberately does **not** emit `DBA_CHANGED` and does not store DBA/trade/former-name fields. It also does not emit a disappearance/removal signal. Filters and `maxItems` affect Dataset output only, never the complete stored snapshot. If source/schema guards fail, the run fails and the previous snapshot is retained. Snapshot commit is the final state mutation after Dataset and OUTPUT writes succeed.

#### `sample`

```json
{"mode":"sample","maxItems":100}
```

Sample mode uses deterministic synthetic data through the production normalization/filter/diff/output-shaping logic. It performs zero official FCC HTTP, opens no production named key-value store, reads/writes no production monitor state, and reports `snapshotUpdated: false`.

### Source safety and identity

Phase-A direct measurement of the FCC complete XML observed 20,851 filer records. All 20,851 had non-empty, unique Filer 499 IDs, so `Filer 499 ID` is the only primary stable key. FRN is secondary because the same measurement observed blanks and duplicate FRNs.

The Actor validates total-record and active-record ranges, Filer ID uniqueness, required identity fields, and material source-count collapse before output or snapshot mutation. `maxItems` never reduces acquisition or validation coverage.

### Reuse and attribution

V1 redistributes selected factual regulatory fields from the public FCC machine-readable Form 499 database and excludes contact/person blocks and expressive submitted material. No contrary non-commercial restriction was identified for the selected factual fields during Phase A.

Suggested attribution: **Source: FCC Form 499 Filer Database, Federal Communications Commission. Registration information is filed through USAC.**

### Important limitations

This Actor reports FCC source records and source-record changes. It does not determine whether an entity is currently doing business, licensed for another purpose, compliant, non-compliant, eligible for a service, or legally required to take an action. It provides no telecom, regulatory, or legal advice. Source values can be missing or change when FCC/USAC registration data changes.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Directory, deterministic search, stateful monitoring, or isolated sample preview.

## `filerStatus` (type: `string`):

Filter by FCC Form 499 filer-record status derived from the FCC source. Directory/search default to ACTIVE when omitted; monitor defaults to all statuses. This is not a claim that a business is currently operating.

## `search` (type: `string`):

Case-insensitive deterministic substring search over the FCC Legal Name of Reporting Entity only. Required in search mode.

## `filerIds` (type: `array`):

Optional exact Filer 499 ID filter.

## `frns` (type: `array`):

Optional exact FRN filter. FRN is secondary and is not a unique filer key.

## `principalCommunicationsTypes` (type: `array`):

Optional exact FCC principal communications type filter.

## `serviceJurisdictions` (type: `array`):

Optional exact jurisdiction filter using source-supported FCC jurisdiction values.

## `signalTypes` (type: `array`):

Optional monitor signal-type filter. Supported values: FILER\_ADDED, FILER\_STATUS\_CHANGED, COMMUNICATION\_TYPE\_CHANGED, SERVICE\_JURISDICTION\_CHANGED.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Caps Dataset output only. Source acquisition, validation, and monitor snapshots always use the complete official dataset.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "directory",
  "maxItems": 10000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `OUTPUT` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("starshaped_bullsnake/us-fcc-form499-telecom-provider-directory-change-intelligence").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("starshaped_bullsnake/us-fcc-form499-telecom-provider-directory-change-intelligence").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call starshaped_bullsnake/us-fcc-form499-telecom-provider-directory-change-intelligence --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,starshaped_bullsnake/us-fcc-form499-telecom-provider-directory-change-intelligence"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/V3AyuT0x8TecZg4z4/builds/JeUWmnDwgCjnxZRfn/openapi.json