It’s a new year and the FCC has just released its annual update to the FCC Form 499A.  Telecommunications providers must use the 2016 Form 499A to report calendar year 2015 revenues for purposes of calculating contributions to the federal Universal Service Fund and other revenue-based contribution requirements including TRS, LNP, NANP and annual FCC regulatory fees.  The FCC’s Public Notice describes the 2016 Form 499A updates as non-substantive and the bulk of the edits appear to be formatting changes designed to make the Instructions more reader-friendly.  However, there are a few process changes including a new instruction that providers relying on traffic studies for reporting USF assessable revenues are now directed to submit the studies only to USAC, not to the Wireline Competition Bureau.

The updated Form 499A is available on the FCC’s website and USAC has stated the form will be available to filers, in USAC’s online E-File system, on or before March 1, 2016.

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