FCC, Consumers' Research Continue to Disagree on USF Contribution Methodology

Consumers' Research and the FCC continued to disagree before the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on whether the agency does "active oversight" over the Universal Service Administrative Co. and the contribution factor process, in filings posted Thursday in case 22-13315 (see 2306220062). The FCC cited an Office of Managing Director order modifying the Q3 2023 contribution factor after receiving data from USAC as an example of "FCC-imposed adjustments" that are "consistent with USAC’s subordination to the agency." Consumers' Research disagreed, saying the order "merely makes a ministerial adjustment to USAC's calculations" and wasn't "issued or directly approved by the FCC commissioners themselves."