Industry Leader in Telecom Data Analytics and Revenue Assurance

In telecom, profitability depends on tightly managing costs while complying with FCC regulations. One hidden drain on revenue comes from relying on safe harbor allocations when reporting traffic for the Universal Service Fund (USF) and related programs.

While safe harbor is convenient, it often causes carriers to overstate their interstate revenue and therefore overpay into federal contribution programs. With the FCC’s proposed contribution factor for Q4 2025 set at 38.1%, the financial impact of these overpayments is higher than ever.

How Do Companies Deal with Knowledge Walking Out the Door?

Telecom networks are built on decades of infrastructure and processes—many of which still rely on aging equipment and legacy platforms. For years, these systems have been maintained by seasoned engineers who know them inside and out. But as those experts retire, providers face a growing challenge: critical institutional knowledge is disappearing faster than they can develop new talent.

The risks are significant:

With their vast network of real estate, extensive fiber connections, and established power infrastructure, telecommunications companies (telcos) are uniquely positioned to repurpose their underutilized central offices (COs) into hubs for artificial intelligence (AI). This strategic move can create new revenue streams, optimize network performance, and position telcos as key players in the growing AI economy.

Most of us can remember those boring looking red brick buildings with no windows that had a sign affixed “Bell Telephone Co”.  Traditionally, those central offices served as critical nodes for routing voice and data traffic. However, with the shift to cloud-based services and more efficient network technologies, many of these facilities are now underutilized. Over the past ten years many of these properties were sold to save expenses on power, and real estate taxes.  Many were located in choice urban or suburban areas, and the telcos took advantage of rising real estate prices when they wanted to shed expenses.  

You have undoubtedly heard about the 911 outage in Pennsylvania in July.  This is precisely the kind of event that motivated the FCC to issue new directives on 911 monitoring and reporting, effective in April.

What does the FCC order require of carriers?

• Mandated up-to-date PSAP information
  • Maintenance and verification of contact details for all affected PSAPs
• Standardized Outage Notification Protocols
  • The order establishes a detailed format for outage notifications to PSAPs
• Detailed outage reporting content
• Prompt and timely notifications
  • Notifications must include specific, comprehensive information about the outage

In order to comply, carriers are required to have systems in place that provide real-time reporting, automated alerts, and compliance assurance.  

Telecom operations run on procedures, documentation, and standards. Network design, provisioning, testing, and circuit cutovers all happen thanks to experienced personnel.  What happens when a new person joins the team? How do new employees get up to speed on the correct methods, procedures, and workflows when procedures often live in disconnected manuals, PDFs, binders, and legacy systems?

That’s where ATS comes in helping telecom companies transform scattered documentation into organized, accessible, and actionable knowledge.

You have undoubtedly heard about the 911 outage in Pennsylvania in July.  This is precisely the kind of event that motivated the FCC to issue new directives on  911 monitoring and reporting effective in April.

Advanced Technologies & Services, Inc. and EGC International, Inc. have announced a Global partnership to expand their service offerings to Central and South America.

The partnership will allow the two companies to leverage their combined experience, business relationships, and technologies to expand business activities across Central and South America. It is expected that the partnership will generate new revenues for both companies and support growth plans in new geographies.

In the Trump era we have come to expect a decrease in telecom regulation but the deregulation policy hit a snag recently when the US National Security Council announced a plan that would result in the government building and owning a national 5G wireless network. 

5G networks are of great interest because of the speeds that the technology will make available and the security those networks offer.  The new speed capabilities gives the Internet of Things (IOT) a real push forward and in an age of increased hacking, 5G will be a welcomed technology.