The next-scheduled FCC Certification must be filed no later than December 31st. This FCC Certification covers the Third Quarter of this year (July 1st – September 30th).
Pursuant to Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) regulations, all prepaid calling card providers must file quarterly Certifications with the FCC (“FCC Certification”) attesting to compliance with specific percentage of interstate usage (“PIU”) reporting and Universal Service Fund (“USF”) requirements.
Prior to filing the FCC Certification by the deadline, providers must have already remitted Transport Provider PIU Reports to each underlying telecommunications transport service provider. These Transport Provider PIU Reports describe the PIU factor(s) in effect during Q3, along with the call volumes on which the factor(s) was calculated. The Transport Provider PIU Report should have been submitted on or before November 15th of this year.
According to the FCC’s regulations, filing the Transport Provider PIU Report is a prerequisite to filing the PIU Certification with the FCC. Therefore, we cannot file the FCC Certification unless or until our client has submitted their Transport Provider PIU Report(s) for the applicable quarter.
We remind clients that the next-scheduled PIU Report must be sent to underlying transport providers no later than February 15th. The next Transport Provider PIU Report covers the Fourth Quarter of this year (October 1st– December 31st).
CLIENT ACTION ITEMS:
Clients subscribed to Compliance & Reporting Services (“C&R Services”), provided by our firm’s Commpliance Division, will be contacted by a regulatory specialist regarding the collection of revenue and other required data. Clients not currently subscribed to C&R Services, but who require assistance preparing and filing the FCC Certification, should contact us at your earliest convenience to ensure timely filing. Failure to remit required data in a timely manner may result in delinquent remittance and the imposition of penalties.
C&R Services Subscribers: Clients currently subscribed to C&R Services should send required data to Chris Canter directly at cac@commlawgroup.com no later than December 20th.
Non-Subscribers: Clients not currently subscribed to C&R Services, but who require assistance with the preparation and filing of this report, may contact either Chris Canter to make arrangements for filing.
If you have already sent us the required information, you may disregard this notice.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Pursuant to its June 2006 Prepaid Calling Card Service Order, FCC regulations obligate prepaid calling card providers to file quarterly PIU Reports with each underlying telecommunications transport provider that supplied interstate or international transport services during the prior quarter (“Transport Provider PIU Report”). These same regulations obligate prepaid calling card providers to file a separate certification of compliance with the FCC each quarter.
A. Transport Provider PIU Report
Prepaid calling card providers must report PIU factors to all carriers from which they purchased telecommunications transport services. Specifically, a prepaid calling card provider must report prepaid calling card PIU factors and call volumes on which these factors were calculated, based on not less than a one-day representative sample.
PIU factors must be computed separately for originating and terminating traffic on a state-specific basis. This information must be provided to the transport provider no later than the 45th day of each calendar quarter. The transport provider may use the reported PIU in calculating any PIU factors it reports to LECs and may disclose the reported PIU upon request by such LECs.
If the prepaid calling card provider fails to provide the appropriate PIU information to the transport provider in a timely manner, the transport provider may treat the prepaid calling card provider’s traffic as subject to a 50 percent default PIU. A transport provider also may audit the PIU reports it receives from a calling card provider if it has a reasonable basis to believe that such reports contain inaccurate or misleading data.
B. FCC Certification
Prepaid calling card providers are required to file Certifications with the FCC on a quarterly basis. Each quarterly FCC Certification must include:
- The percentage of intrastate, interstate, and international calling card minutes of use for that reporting period;
- The percentage of total prepaid calling card service revenues that are interstate and international and, therefore, subject to federal USF assessments for the reporting period; and
- A statement that the company is making the required USF contribution based on the reported information.
The FCC Certification must be signed by an officer of the company, under penalty of perjury, stating that the calling card provider is in compliance with the FCCs quarterly reporting regulations.
Due Dates
Due dates for filing quarterly Transport Provider PIU Reports and FCC Certifications are as follows:
| Reporting Period | PIU Report Due | FCC Certification Due |
| 4th Quarter (Oct 1-Dec31) | February 15 | March 31 |
| 1st Quarter (Jan 1-Mar 31) | May 15 | June 30 |
| 2nd Quarter (Apr 1-Jun 30) | August 15 | September 30 |
| 3rd Quarter (Jul 1-Sept 30) | November 15 | December 31 |
FCC Enforcement
The FCC imposes steep fines against entities that fail to comply with its reporting regulations, which includes USF filings, CPNI Certifications, and prepaid calling card provider reports. These FCC fines frequently exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) for a single offence. Examples of recent enforcement actions are available on the FCC’s website: https://www.fcc.gov/eb/usfc/.
