Industry Leader in Telecom Data Analytics and Revenue Assurance

Time after time, carriers contact us about wanting to do something to lower their skyrocketing USF Fees.

Some carriers may feel like they are at the mercy of an endless cycle of a volatile contribution factor that has risen drastically in the past decade -from 15.5 percent in the first quarter of 2011 to 31.8 percent in 2021.

A solution that carriers overlook is their ability to reduce their Federal USF tax by means of a Traffic Study.

By using the Safe Harbor Rate, you can be spending twice as much as you should on USF Fees when filing your 499s. With the deadline for carriers to submit their 499As around the corner, the time to complete a Traffic Study is now.

Here's a direct quote from a recent USAC Webinar;

The best (easiest) time to switch from using the Safe Harbor percentage to traffic studies is with the 1st quarter filing of the year ... Keeping methodology consistent for all quarters simplifies annual revenue reporting on the applicable Form 499-A due the following April.

These spikes in USF fees can be managed by ditching the Safe Harbor rate when you file your 499s, and instead performing a traffic study.

Phone calls have no boundaries, borders, or language barriers. However, billing for them does. 

It's no question that the Universal Service Fund (USF) has proven it's value in creating an all-inclusive broadband network. However, the rising costs of USF fees have caused many industry professionals to call for a change in how service providers contribute to the fund. 

In our regulatory work, we're often shocked at how many providers don’t know that there are ways to cut their overall USF contribution to be a fraction of what it is now. 

To give a brief overview of the USF, it’s split between four separate funds;

• Low-income Lifeline fund
• Rural Healthcare fund (RHC)
• E-Rate: For Schools and Libraries
• High-cost fund
  

Remember the days when investigating a customer query meant your employees needed to carry out a checklist of manual steps? We do. And in spite of the digitization of the telecom environment, many providers still retain some of these steps as part of their process. It’s not unheard of for an employee to spend between 15 and 20 minutes investigating a single issue, such as whether a client's usage records are accurate or not. When doing so requires accessing one system, gathering the information, and then using it to access another system (or more), it can be a lengthy process. The solution is to automate as many tasks in your workflow as possible, and stitch all of the information together with a workflow manager.