WilTel petitioned the FCC to reduce or adjust its proposed 8.9% 4...
WilTel petitioned the FCC to reduce or adjust its proposed 8.9% 4th-quarter Universal Service Fund (USF) contribution factor, used by carriers to compute their USF contributions. The factor, routinely set by the Wireline Bureau, will go into effect Sept.…
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30 unless the Commission steps in. WilTel challenged the “legitimacy” of issuing the factor without doing something to “eliminate discrimination” in the way the contributions are recovered. WilTel took exception to the fact that AT&T hasn’t been making contributions the USF for enhanced prepaid calling cards services while competitors continued to pay. WilTel said it thought the AT&T situation was just part of the problem and “the rest of a large ‘non- contributor iceberg’ lies just below the surface.” The 8.9% factor becomes discriminatory when it’s not being recovered equally from all competitors, the company said.