Good faith efforts to comply with the directives of the Universal Service Administrative Company (“USAC”) were punished yet again as disclosed in a recent Petition for Review filed with the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”). InComm Solutions, Inc. (“InComm”), a provider of call-bridging services, is appealing USAC’s decision to deny its request to offset over $250,000 in USF contribution payments paid by InComm to its supplier, Sprint, during a period in which InComm concedes it was not in compliance with FCC rules requiring call-bridging providers to directly contribute.
InComm argues that USAC’s refusal to offset amounts paid to its supplier, Sprint, would result in the double-counting of approximately $2.2 million in interstate revenue, an amount corroborated by Sprint. InComm further contends that its request should have been granted because USAC was provided with the necessary revenue information to calculate and confirm that double-counting had taken place without the need for a burdensome audit.
InComm had initially requested USAC that a credit of $261,341 for the USF be granted to offset past USF surcharges made to Sprint from October 2008 to June 2011. Because InComm could not confirm to Sprint that it was a direct contributor during this period, Sprint treated InComm as an end-user rather than as a direct contributor. InComm was not able to fully comply with its USF obligations until the summer of 2011 and subsequently made double-payments when remitting over $591,000 in prior USF obligations. USAC denied InComm’s request to offset the past charges and told InComm that its only recourse was to settle any double-payment dispute with Sprint. InComm’s petition states that it now relies on the FCC reversing USAC’s decision since it cannot recoup the double-assessments from Sprint.
The petition and decision on appeal from USAC can be found at:
https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7021858581
https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=7021858582
If you have questions about this Advisory, please contact the attorney assigned to your account.
