FCC Releases Revised 2009 FCC Form 498 and Instructions

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a revised FCC Form 498 and instructions November 5. This form replaces the current FCC Form 498. Major changes include that only a company officer can certify new or revised Forms 498, all service providers must provide electronic banking (ACH) information to receive USF payments, and all service providers must provide their Dunn & Bradstreet number. Information about the updated form can be found on the Obtain a SPIN page.

USAC Address Change for USF Contributor Invoice Payments

Effective October 22, 2009, the addresses for companies to send Universal Service Fund (USF) contributor invoice payments have changed. The Collections Payment Instructions page has the new addresses.

PLEASE NOTE: This is only an address change for check payments and all information pertaining to ACH and Wire payments are unchanged. 

Payments made via the previous address will be accepted and forwarded for at least 30 days, but extra delays to application of payments to your USAC balance should be expected. USAC will not offer any credits for any late payment fees incurred for continued use of the previous address. 

Contact USAC Customer Support at 888-641-8722 if you have any questions or need help.

FCC Announces Mandatory Electronic Disbursement of USF Support Payments

The FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau announced September 28 that all federal Universal Service Fund (USF) support payments must be made by electronic funds transfer (See Public Notice DA 09-2126).

The notice states that recipients of USF support payments shall provide their financial institution information and other relevant information on FCC Form 498, which is being updated to reflect these requirements.  USAC encourages all service providers to update their Form 498 information using USAC's E-File System. Once the updated 498 form is processed, all following support payments will be made electronically.

The Wireline Competition Bureau will issue a further public notice announcing the effective date of the electronic payment requirement. After the effective date, USAC will not make USF support payments to any entity that has not provided financial institution information sufficient to enable payment through electronic funds transfer.

Please note: Service providers in the Schools and Libraries Program that currently use the Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement (BEAR Form 472) form will continue to receive check payments even if they provide electronic banking information until further notice.

If you have any questions, please contact USAC at (888) 641-8722 or customerservice@bcd.universalservice.org.

The FCC announces the contribution factor for the fourth quarter of 2009 (October-December) will decrease to 12.3 percent.

Public Notice On September 14, 2009: The Federal Communications Commission released the attached Public Notice announcing that the proposed universal service contribution factor for the second quarter will decrease to 0.123 or 12.3 percent. (Dkt. No. CC 96-45: DA 09-2042).

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-09-2042A1.pdf

The FCC annouces the contribution factor for the third quarter of 2009 (July-September) will increase to 12.9 percent.

Public Notice: On June 12,2009 the Federal Communications Comission released the attached Public Notice announcing that the proposed universal service contribution factor for the second quarter will increase to 0.129 or 12.9 percent. (Dkt. No. CC 96-45: DA 09-1322).

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-09-1322A1.pdf

USAC Website Scheduled Outage - Saturday, June 13 from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.

USAC's website [ www.usac.org | www.universalservice.org | www.lifelinesupport.org ] will be unavailable Saturday, June 13th from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. due to scheduled maintenance.