On September 12, 2017, the Federal Communications Commission’s (Commission) Office of the Managing Director (OMD) released a Public Notice proposing a universal service fund (USF) contribution factor of 18.8% for fourth quarter 2017. This proposed contribution factor would be the highest rate since the USF program’s inception and likely reflects the impact of the declining USF contribution base.
Continue Reading Proposed Fourth Quarter 2017 Universal Service Fund Contribution Factor Jumps – Poised to Hit New High
FCC Uses Revised Forfeiture Policy to Settle Old USF Contribution NAL
Kajeet, Inc., and its wholly-owned subsidiary Kajeet/Airlink LLC, has agreed to pay $450,000 to settle a 2009 investigation by the Enforcement Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (Bureau), initiated in 2009, into several company violations. The investigation concerned the company’s apparent failure to make timely contributions to the Universal Service Fund (USF) and various other industry funds (the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Fund, the Local Number Portability (LNP) cost recovery mechanism, etc.) and Kajeet/Airlink’s failure to seek an assignment of an international Section 214 authorization in connection with the acquisition of assets of Airlink Mobile. While the Consent Decree, released on October 7, 2015, has many of the provisions that have become the “new normal” for the current Bureau – an admission of liability, civil penalty – it is remarkable for several reasons.
Continue Reading FCC Uses Revised Forfeiture Policy to Settle Old USF Contribution NAL
In a Shift, FCC Shelves Prior Forfeiture Methodology For Failure to Pay Into USF and Other Federal Programs
Today, the Federal Communications Commission released a Policy Statement announcing a “treble damages” methodology to assess forfeitures for failure to make payment to a series of federal programs, a move which the agency anticipates will allow it to begin “significantly more investigations.” The new policy appears to allow the FCC to impose significantly larger fines than in similar investigations in the past, but may implicate the FCC’s statutory maximum forfeiture authority in some cases.
Continue Reading In a Shift, FCC Shelves Prior Forfeiture Methodology For Failure to Pay Into USF and Other Federal Programs
FCC Announces Another Slight Decrease in USF Contribution Factor
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USF Contribution Factor Continues its Rollercoaster Ride
After two quarters of near-18 percent contribution factors, the Universal Service Fund’s quarterly contribution factor is declining again. For the third quarter of 2012, the USF contribution factor will decline to 15.7%. This two percent decline again demonstrates the volatility of the contribution factor. The change is due primarily to a $300 million increase
It’s Official: First Quarter 2012 USF Contribution Factor Rises to a Record High 17.9 Percent
As we warned over a week ago, the USF contribution factor is rising to a new record high of 17.9%. The Commission made it official late today, releasing this Public Notice announcing the new contribution factor for the first quarter of 2012. The nearly 18 percent factor is by far the highest contribution factor
USF Factor to Rise to 17.9%, Will This Finally Lead to Contribution Reform?
This is starting to sound like a broken record. Once again, the USF contribution factor is poised to make a big jump upward to a new record high. Once again, we wonder here whether this will finally be the time that the FCC moves forward to reform the contribution side of the USF. With the volatility and high rates, one must wonder whether the current mechanism can satisfy the requirement that the USF fund be "specific, predictable and sufficient."
Here’s the bad news: according to a prominent USF analyst, the FCC will soon announce a first quarter 2012 contribution factor of 17.9%. This is an increase of over 2.5% from the current factor and by far is the highest that the USF rate has ever been.
Continue Reading USF Factor to Rise to 17.9%, Will This Finally Lead to Contribution Reform?
USF Contribution Factor Again Tops 15%
Today the FCC announced the proposed universal service contribution factor for the fourth quarter of 2011. Based in large part on recently revised projections showing an increase in low income demand (largely due to prepaid wireless phones), the proposed contribution factor will rise nearly 1%, to 15.3%.
This marks the third quarter ever, but the second
USF Roller Coaster: First Quarter Contribution Factor to be 15.5%
One month ago, we reported on Universal Service demand levels that suggested a significant increase in the USF Contribution Factor. Yesterday, the revenue figures came in low. As a result, the 1Q 2011 contribution factor is predicted to be a record 15.5 percent. This is even higher than the increase we expected last month.
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USF Roller Coaster, Part 2: Contribution Factor Predicted to Return to Nearly 15 Percent
As we have covered in this blog (see here and here), the Universal Service Fund contribution factor has bounced between 12 and 15 percent for the past year or so. Yesterday, telecommunications consultant Billy Jack Gregg predicted that the USF factor is in for another significant increase — to a near-record level of 14.7%