Trainings & Outreach

HCLI News – February/March 2012

Compliance At the FCC Did You Know?

Revenue Reporting Deadlines

DUE	COMPONENT	DATA
March 30	IAS	Line counts for incumbent and competitive carriers. Learn More...
April 2, 2012	Low Income	FCC Form 497 revisions for 2010. Learn More...
April 2, 2012	All	FCC Form 499-A, Annual Revenue Reporting Worksheet. Learn More...

 

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New ETC Annual Reporting Requirements
High Cost Program

Existing federally designated eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) must file their annual progress reports on their existing five-year build-out plans under Section 54.209 of the FCC's rules by April 1 with the FCC.  The FCC moved the federally designated ETC deadline for annual reports from October 1 to April 1 in the Connect America Fund order.

The FCC also added new reporting requirements and extended all these filing requirement to all ETCs – whether FCC-designated or state-designated – but the additional requirements won't go into effect until after Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) approval is obtained. The FCC will provide impacted ETCs sufficient time after PRA approval is obtained to file the relevant information.

On April 1, 2013, all ETCs will be required to file with the FCC and USAC a new five-year build-out plan that accounts for the new broadband obligations (which will replace the five-year build-out plan currently on file with the Commission) and to send copies to the relevant state commission, relevant authority in a U.S. Territory, or Tribal government, as appropriate. Beginning April 1, 2014, all ETCs are required to file annual progress reports on their new five-year build-out plans.

Competitive ETCs whose support is being phased down will not be required to submit any of the new information or certifications related solely to the new broadband public interest obligations, but must continue to submit information or certifications with respect to their provision of voice service.

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Understanding Changes in the Low Income Program
Low Income Program

On February 6, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission released its Lifeline Reform Order (FCC 12-11) that makes significant changes to the federal Low Income Program. The changes summarized below will go into effect April 2, 2012. A new version of FCC Form 497 will be posted on USAC's website after OMB approval as part of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The FCC published the PRA notice in the Federal Register March 6, 2012, and noted that emergency approval of the Form 497 has been sought. The FCC Form 497 is expected to be approved by mid-April and carriers will be able to use it to submit for reimbursement for April subscribers, which are submitted in May 2012.

Lifeline
Beginning April 2, 2012, eligible telecommunications carriers' (ETCs) federal Lifeline support will equal $9.25 per month for each eligible, Non-Tribal Lifeline subscriber pursuant to 47 C.F.R. 54.403 of the Commission's new rules. March 2012 will be the last month ETCs may claim federal support under the old Tiers 1 - 3.

ETCs may claim up to an additional $25.00 for each eligible resident of Tribal lands (including any federally recognized Indian tribe's reservation, pueblo, or colony including former reservations in Oklahoma; Alaska Native Regions; Indian Allotments; or Hawaiian Home Lands) as long as the amount claimed on FCC Form 497 is not greater than the amount billed to the customer.

Link Up
Beginning April 2, 2012, Link Up support is no longer available for Non-Tribal Lifeline customers. March 2012 is the last month for which ETCs serving customers on non-Tribal lands can claim Link Up support on their FCC Form 497. For example, if an ETC serving non-Tribal lands currently receives Link Up support and enrolls a new subscriber on March 15, 2012, that ETC may claim Link Up support for that subscriber. If, however, that ETC enrolls a new subscriber April 2, 2012, that ETC may not claim Link Up support for that subscriber.

ETCs that receive High Cost support may claim Tribal Link Up support to cover 100% of customary charge for commencing telecommunications service, up to $100, for eligible residents of Tribal lands.

Toll Limitation Service (TLS)
Beginning April 2, 2012, TLS support is capped at the lesser of $3.00 per subscriber or an ETC's incremental cost of providing the service per subscriber. March 2012 will be the last month ETCs may claim support for TLS reimbursement at rates higher than $3.00 per subscriber on FCC Form 497.

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Federal Poverty Guidelines for 2012
Low Income Program

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the 2012 Federal Poverty Guidelines January 26, 2012 in the Federal Register. Eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) that use total household income as a criterion for Lifeline should update any materials containing the federal poverty guidelines.

USAC has updated all pages on lifelinesupport.org to reflect these changes.

The chart below shows the amounts (based on 135% of the federal poverty guidelines) used in federal default states.

Please contact USAC's Low Income Team via e-mail with any questions.

2012 Federal Poverty Guidelines – 135%
Household Size	48 Contiguous States and D.C.	Alaska	Hawaii
1	$15,080	$18,860	$17,361
2	$20,426	$25,542	$23,504
3	$25,772	$32,225	$29,646
4	$31,118	$38,907	$35,789
5	$36,464	$45,590	$41,931
6	$41,810	$52,272	$48,074
7	$47,156	$58,955	$54,216
8	$52,502	$65,637	$60,359
For each additional person, add	$5,346	$6,683	$6,143

Note: Some states may use a different household income level as their Lifeline eligibility criterion.

SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 17, January 26, 2012, pp. 4034-4035
Please Note: The Federal Poverty Guidelines are typically updated in the end of January

 

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Frozen High Cost Support Data Available on Website
High Cost Program

USAC has made frozen support data available on its website as required in the Connect America Fund order. The FCC froze High Cost support for price cap carriers (and rate-of-return affiliates) and competitive eligible telecommunications carriers (CETCs) effective January 1, 2012, based on the January 31, 2012 view of their 2011 support.

The data show the final Monthly Frozen High Cost Support baseline for price cap carriers (and rate-of-return affiliates) and CETCs.  The spreadsheet contains – by Study Area – the 2011 monthly support or an amount equal to $3,000 per-line annually (or $250 per-line monthly) excluding prior period adjustments related to years other than 2011 as of January 31, 2012.  Also, consistent with the order released February 3, 2012, USAC calculated the CETC per-line cap at the CETC-ILEC study area level.

Please note Alaska Non-Remote areas that would have been flagged as AK (State Code 61) are now under state AN (Alaska Non-Remote) with a state code of 98.

For more information, please reference the Connect America Fund Order at paragraph 133 for price cap carriers (also Part 54.312(a)) and paragraphs 515 and 519 for competitive eligible telecommunications carriers (also Part 54.307(e)).

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FCC Seeks Comments on Mobility Fund Auction Procedures
High Cost Program

The FCC scheduled a reverse auction for September 27, 2012, to award $300 million in one-time Mobility Fund Phase I Support. Auction 901 will award one-time support to carriers that commit to provide 3G or better mobile voice and broadband services in areas where such services are unavailable, the FCC said in a public notice (DA 12-121) released February 2.

Among other things, the FCC is seeking comments on procedures for:

• Identifying geographic areas eligible for support;
• Determining the basic auction design, including the round format, how eligible areas may be aggregated for bidding, and how awardees will be selected;
• Establishing certain other bidding procedures, including information disclosure and methodologies for calculating auction and performance default payments.

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FCC Reforms, Modernizes Lifeline Program
Low Income Program

The FCC comprehensively reformed the Lifeline program to make it more accountable, the agency said in a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 12-11) released February 6, 2012.

The order establishes clear goals and measures and establishes national eligibility criteria to allow low-income consumers to qualify for Lifeline based on either income or participation in certain government benefit programs, the FCC said.

The order also adopts rules for Lifeline enrollment, including enhanced initial and annual certification requirements, and confirms the program's one-per-household requirement.

Highlights from the report include creating a National Lifeline Accountability Database to prevent multiple carriers from receiving support for the same subscribers; phasing out toll limitation service (TLS) support; eliminating Link Up support except  for eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) serving Tribal lands that participate in both Lifeline and the High Cost program; reducing the number of ineligible subscribers in the program; and imposing independent audit requirements on carriers receiving more than $5 million in annual support.

Using savings from the reforms, the FCC establishes a Broadband Adoption Pilot Program to test and determine how Lifeline can best be used to increase broadband adoption among Lifeline eligible consumers, the Commission said.

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Telecommunications Companies Must Report Revenues on FCC Form 499-A by April 2
High Cost and Low Income Programs

All telecommunications carriers providing international and interstate telecommunications services, providers of interstate telecommunications that offer interstate telecommunications for a fee on a non-common carrier basis, and payphone providers that are aggregators are required to contribute to universal service and file an FCC Form 499-A (Annual Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet). The 2012 FCC Form 499-A is now available on the USAC Forms page. The form must be filed by April 2.

The Fund Administration Video Tutorial page has a tutorial for filing FCC Form 499-A, and other E-File tutorials.

USAC encourages fund contributors to take advantage of its online submission capabilities using the E-File portal. Online users will be able to quickly revise Forms 499 by pulling up historical forms, editing and submitting your changes, and certifying online.

All paper Forms 499 (including prior-year forms) should be mailed to:

Universal Service Administrative Company
Form 499 Data Collection Agent
2000 L Street NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036

See USAC's Revenue Reporting page for more details.

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IAS Line Counts for 2011 due March 30
High Cost Program

Final Interstate Access Support (IAS) line count filings are due on or before March 30, 2012 for incumbent and competitive carriers. The data to be submitted will be as of December 31, 2011.

IAS line count information
A carrier must file the number of lines served within each price-cap local exchange carrier study area in which it serves. The line counts must be submitted at the unbundled network element (UNE) zone level if UNE zones have been established within the study area. Residential/single-line business and multi-line business line counts must be shown separately.

Competitive carriers can use the Online FCC Form 525 to file with USAC.

The Part 54 data filings can be sent by mail, email, or fax to:

Universal Service Administrative Company
Customer Operations
2000 L Street NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036

Toll-Free: (877) 877-4925

Fax: (866) 873-4695

E-Mail: hcfilings@hcli.universalservice.org

Contact Marcel Numa if you have any questions about this filing.

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ETCs Must File Form 497 Revisions for 2010 Low Income Support by April 2, 2012
Low Income Program

April 2, 2012 is the last day to submit revisions to FCC Form 497 (Lifeline and Link Up Worksheet) for 2010. USAC's administrative window for submitting revisions to FCC Form 497 will close March 31, 2012, for all months prior to January 2011. This applies to submission of data on Form 497, including original (first-time) submissions and revisions of previously submitted data. USAC's administrative window for submitting data for the year 2009 is currently closed.

Carriers are encouraged to submit 2010 and 2011 revisions through the Online Form 497. Carriers may also submit FCC Form 497 via email or via fax to (866) 873-4665.

You may also mail FCC Form 497 to the following address:

Universal Service Administrative Company
Customer Operations
2000 L Street NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036

If you have questions, contact the Low Income Customer Service Center at 1 (866) 873-4727.

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