Fund Administration
About Fund Administration:
- Fund Adminstration Overview
- How the Universal Service Fund Works
- Purpose of the Universal Service Fund
- Understanding Audits
Fund Administration Tools:
Overview
USAC is the data collection agent for Federal Communications Commission (FCC) required forms that report telecommunications revenue for contributors to the fund. Sections 54.706, 54.711, and 54.713 of the FCC's rules require 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 to contribute to the Universal Service Fund.
All telecommunications carriers that provide service internationally and between states pay contributions into the fund. These carriers are required to submit revenue data to USAC using FCC Form 499 (Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet). USAC makes payments from this central fund to support the High Cost, Low Income, Rural Health Care, and Schools and Libraries programs.
Consumers may notice a "Universal Service" line item on their telephone bills. This occurs when a telephone company chooses to recover its contributions directly from its customers through a line-item charge on telephone bills. The FCC does not require this. Each company makes a business decision about whether to directly assess its customers to recover its Universal Service Fund costs.
