Late last year, the FCC ruled that states are not preempted from imposing USF contributions on the future intrastate revenues of nomadic interconnected VoIP providers.  The FCC made clear that the ruling was to have “prospective only effect.”  The ruling resolved a petition submitted by the Nebraska and Kansas state commissions.  Our firm has learned that the Kansas state commission, through its USF administrator, is sending delinquency notices to nomadic I-VoIP providers demanding retroactive contributions on revenue derived as far back as two years ago – plus late fees.  We have serious concerns about the state commission’s legal authority to enforce its demands and about the methodology it has adopted for determining the jurisdiction of nomadic I-VoIP revenue.

Although the declaratory ruling on which the Kansas administrator relies applied to future intrastate revenues only, we understand that state commissions are prepared to fight for the authority to reach back to assess past revenues.

If any client has received such a notice, we urge them to contact their assigned responsible attorney for more details.