Relaxed Rural ETC Reporting Rules to Take Effect; Input Invited on USF Contributor Forms

FCC rules streamlining reporting duties of high-cost USF recipients take effect Sept. 22, said an order summary in the Federal Register Wednesday. The July 7 order eliminated some annual reporting requirements eligible telecom carriers face for network outages, unfulfilled service requests, complaints, pricing information, service quality certification and duplicative Form 481 filings (contingent on Universal Service Administrative Co. implementation of an online portal). Another summary in the FR sought comments by Oct. 23 under the Paperwork Reduction Act on a proposed FCC information collection in annual and quarterly reporting worksheets (Form 499-A, Form 499-Q) for telecom contributors to the universal service fund and telecom relay service fund. The information is also used to calculate FCC regulatory fees for interstate telecom service providers, it said.