 FCC Third Order on Reconsideration Affecting Reporting Requirements
Posted by: on May 30, 2012
On May 14, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted and released a Third Order on Reconsideration FCC 12-52 which affects reporting requirements defined in section 54.313 of the FCC Universal Service Fund (USF)/ Intercarrier Compensation (ICC) Reform Order FCC 11-161. The Third Order on Reconsideration FCC 12-52 was filed in the Federal Register on May 24, 2012. The rules adopted in this Third Order are effective June 25, 2012.
This Third Order has delayed the annual reporting requirements for Eligible Telecommunications Carriers (ETCs) from April 1 of each year to July 1 of each year. The filing deadlines in section 54.313(j) have also been revised.
The Third Order has also changed the effective date of end user rates that need to be reported. In the FCC USF/ICC Reform Order FCC 11-161, the FCC adopted a rule to limit high-cost support for incumbent ETCs where end user rates do not meet a specified local rate floor. This floor includes basic local service, state Subscriber Line Charge (SLC), state universal service fees and mandatory Extended Area Service (EAS) charges. The Federal SLC is not included in the floor calculation.
In FCC USF/ICC Reform Order FCC 11-161, the effective date for end user rates to determine if they meet the specified local rate floor was end user rates as of January 1. The Third Order has now changed this date to June 1. This permitted ETCs additional time to implement changes to meet the specified local rate floor. The following local rate floor amounts are established by the FCC USF/ICC Reform Order FCC 11-161:
• July 1, 2012 $10 (based on rates as of June 1, 2012)
• July 1, 2013 $14 (based on rates as of June 1, 2013)
• July 1, 2014 Expected to be above $16 ($15.62 plus state regulated fees based on rates as of June 1, 2014)
It is expected the National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc. (NECA) will request information for end user rates as of June 1 in the near future. In NECA’s original data request dated April 5, 2012, they requested end user rates as of January 1 per the original FCC USF/ICC Reform Order FCC 11-161.
Click here to read more about this order.
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