FCC Service Provider Filing and Fee Requirements

Written by Channel
April 30, 1999

FCC Service Provider Filing and Fee Requirements

The information below summarizes the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) filing
requirements and regulatory assessments generally applicable to telecommunications service
providers. Interest on late payments and/or other penalties typically apply to companies
either not filing or underpaying. Data in the chart represents the best information
available as of March 22, 1999, and may have changed since this date. The information
below–listed chronologically by due date–concerns federal requirements/assessments;
additional state filing requirements may exist.

Filing/Fee	Date Due	Companies Obliged To File/Pay	Contribution	Notes
Section 43.82 International Circuit Status Report	March 31	Telecom carriers, including resellers of private lines [Section 63.15(b)], that provided international telecommunications services on owned or leased circuits in previous calendar year.	N/A	Report must include status of international circuits used during prior calendar year. Carriers should consult the manual for Filing Section 43.82 Circuit Status Data, found on the FCC International Bureau’s website, for more details.
Form 457 Universal Service Worksheet	March 31 and Sept. 1	Telecom carriers including resellers that provided any interstate telecommunications services during reporting period. Carriers below a threshold need not file. Unlike Form 431 (see below), private carriers and shared tenant service (STS) providers must file.	Varies quarterly (for second-quarter 1999: 3.05 percent of interstate/international revenues; 0.57 percent of intrastate/interstate and international revenues)	Assessments are based on intrastate, interstate and international revenues. Revenues from services provided to resellers that file Form 457s are excluded. Worksheets are filed twice a year–March 31 for the prior calendar year and Sept. 1 for the first six months of the current year. No fee is due when the worksheet is submitted. Carriers are billed later on a monthly basis by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC).
Section 43.21 Annual Report	April 1	Telecom carriers, including resellers, with gross annual operating revenues in excess of the indexed revenue threshold (IRT), adjusted annually for inflation. While the IRT for 1998 has not been set, the IRT for 1997 was $112 million.	N/A	Mail letter providing prior year total operating revenues and gross telecommunications plant to the FCC Industry Analysis Division, Mail Stop 1600F, Washington, DC 20554.
Form 487 Local Number Portability (LNP) Worksheet	April 16	All telecom carriers providing telecommunications service in the United States and between the United States and foreign points.	Charge is assessed in proportion to ratio of carrier’s revenues to sum of all carriers’ revenues in area served by database.	LNP allows end users to change local exchange carriers (LECs) without changing their telephone numbers. Carriers must file one FCC Form 487 with Lockheed Martin Corp., the administrator for all seven regional databases. Regional database administrators will assess a charge on all telecom carriers to fund the regional database. Although the initial FCC Form 487 must be filed by April 16, 1999, billing is not expected to commence before fourth-quarter 1999. Assessments will be based on intrastate, interstate and international end user revenues. Carriers without end-user revenues in a particular region will be required to contribute $100 per year per region.
Form 431 TRS Fund Worksheet	April 26	Telecom carriers and resellers that billed for interstate services in previous year.	Varies annually (.038 percent in 1999)	Worksheet to be filed with NECA, the TRS Fund Administrator. Contributions are based on interstate/international telecommunications revenues for previous calendar year.
Section 43.61 International Telecommunications Traffic Report	July 31	Telecom carriers and resellers that provided telecommunications services between the United States and foreign points during the previous calendar year.	N/A	Report must include traffic and revenue data for each and every international service. Carriers should consult the Manual for Filing Section 43.61 International Traffic Data, which can be found on the FCC-State Link website.
Form 159 Regulatory Fees	Set Annually (Sept. 14-18 in 1998)	Virtually all licensed service providers, including interstate telecom carriers (interexchange carriers [IXCs], resellers, LECs, competitive LECs [CLECs], operator services providers [OSPs]), telecom carriers providing licensed international services, wireless service licensees (specialized mobile radio [SMR], cellular, paging), and broadcast licensees (commercial AM and FM radio, commercial TV, translator/booster licensees, etc.). Governments and nonprofit organizations are exempt from paying annual regulatory fees. Such entities must make a one-time filing with the FCC of their nonprofit status.	Varies annually	The fees are based on the amount of revenue reported on a company’s TRS Worksheet, minus costs paid to underlying carriers. Interstate telecom carriers are assessed per revenue dollar (.11 percent in 1998). Assessments for licensed international services vary based on the particular facilities involved. Wireless licensees are assessed per telephone number or unit served. Broadcast licensees are assessed based on the class of station and population served. Failure to file the forms by the due date may result in a 25 percent late filing penalty.
Form 496 NANPA Funding Worksheet	Oct. 14	All telecom carriers providing telecommunications service in the United States and between the United States and foreign points.	Varies annually (.0022 percent in 1998)	Assessments are based on gross interstate, international and intrastate revenues less any payments made to other telecom carriers for telecommunications facilities and services used to provide telecommunications services. The minimum contribution is $100 per year. Complete worksheet and send it to the North American Numbering Plan Administration Billing and Collection Agent (NBANC).
Payphone Compensation	N/A	Telecom carriers, including resellers, owning or leasing switching equipment and to whom completed dial-around calls from public payphones are routed.	24 cents per completed call, or at rate agreed upon by contract (as of press time, not yet effective).	Telecom carriers are billed by payphone service providers (PSPs) for dial-around compensation. Absent an alternative agreed upon amount, the new default rate of 24 cents will apply on a going-forward basis. For compensable calls completed between Oct. 7, 1997, and the effective date of the new 24-cent rate, the FCC has determined that the lower rate of 23.8 cents will apply. The FCC is expected to issue a ruling shortly setting the rate for "interim compensation," covering compensable calls completed between Nov. 6, 1996, and Oct. 6, 1997. Overpayments made by carriers since Oct. 7, 1997, paying at the old 28.4-cent rate can be recouped as setoffs against amounts carriers owe to PSPs for this period. If the carrier overpayment is larger than the amount it owes the PSP for the period since Oct. 7, 1997, the carrier may deduct the remaining overpayment from future payments to PSPs.
Section 214 Application	Prior to provision of international service	Telecom carriers, including resellers, which plan to provide any international telecommunications services.	N/A	Submission of the application to the FCC requires a $780 filing fee. Application must be accompanied by an FCC Form 159. Once the application is granted, an international tariff (see below) must be filed prior to commencement of service. Under new streamlining rules adopted by the FCC on March 18, 1999, the waiting period for granting new Section 214 applications is being reduced from 35 days to 14 days and applications will be granted regardless of whether objecting comments have been filed. The new rules, in addition to expanding the class of applications eligible for streamlined processing, allow 214 authorized carriers to provide service through wholly owned subsidiaries without the need for such subsidiaries to obtain separate authorizations.
FCC International/ Domestic Tariff	Prior to provision of international/domestic services	Telecom carriers, including resellers, which plan to provide any international and/or domestic telecommunications services.	N/A	The FCC’s rules allow the filing of a single combined international/domestic tariff, in lieu of separate tariffs. Submission of the tariff to the FCC requires a filing fee of $780. Tariff must be accompanied by an FCC Form 159. The tariff reflects the company’s rates along with the terms and conditions of international and/or domestic service. The tariff takes effect on one day’s notice. The FCC’s October 1996 ruling adopting detariffing for domestic services is currently stayed until an appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals of the ruling is decided. On March 18, the FCC ruled that if the court upholds detariffing for domestic services, carriers with websites will be required to post online the terms, conditions and rates of such domestic services.
Section 214 Transfer of Control Application	Prior to consummation of transaction	Companies that intend to purchase or sell a controlling interest in a telecom carrier that holds a Section 214 authorization. Typically, such filings are required in instances involving mergers or acquisitions of telecom carriers, including resellers.	N/A	Authorization to transfer control must be granted before the transfer of control can be consummated. Submission of the application requires a $780 filing fee. Applications must be accompanied by an FCC Form 159. Based on new streamlining rules adopted by the FCC on March 18, the waiting period for granting transfer applications is being reduced from 35 to 14 days. 214 authorized carriers also will be allowed to undertake pro forma (or nonsubstantial) transfers of control and assignments of 214 authorizations without prior FCC approval. However, under the new rules, the FCC must be notified within 30 days of consummation of such a transaction.
Section 63.11 Foreign Carrier Affiliation Notice	60 days prior to affiliation with foreign carrier	Telecom carriers, including resellers, with Section 214 authorization, discussed supra, in which a foreign company or entity obtains a 25 percent or greater ownership or controlling interest.	N/A	Notification must be filed 60 days prior to affiliation of a U.S. international carrier, including resellers, with a foreign carrier. Affiliation is defined as a 25 percent or greater ownership or controlling interest in the U.S. carrier. The notification is placed on public notice for comment. If control of carrier is being transferred, a separate application to transfer control must be filed (discussed infra).
Primary Interexchange Carrier Charge (PICC)	Typically billed monthly by LECs	All IXCs with 1+ presubscribed customers.	Varies based on type of line and LEC serving customer	As a part of the FCC’s access charge reform, the PICC is a monthly charge assessed on IXCs by LECs for each line presubscribed to the IXC. IXCs may pass the PICC on to end-user customers. During 1998 and through mid-1999, the maximum PICC for primary residential and single-business lines is 53 cents, for nonprimary residential lines, $1.50, and for each multiline business line, $2.75. PICC rates may be lower depending on LEC local-loop costs. On July 1, 1999, the PICC ceiling will be adjusted for inflation, and if necessary, increased to $1.03 for primary residential and single-line business lines, to $2.50 for nonprimary residential lines, and to $4.25 for multiline business lines. According to the FCC, the average nonprimary residential PICC is not expected to exceed $2 and the multiline business PICC is expected to average less than $1 by 2001. Under the FCC’s rules, end users that have not selected an IXC may be directly billed by the LEC.
Source: Law Offices of Thomas K. Crowe, P.C., Copyright (c) 1999. The information in this matrix was collected and assembled by the Law Offices of Thomas K. Crowe, P.C., a Washington-based law firm specializing in telecommunications legal matters. Contact Thomas Crowe at +1 202 973 2890 for further information.