The Universal Service Administrative Co. asked the FCC Wireline B...

Alltel should have applied before the industrywide interim cap on USF high-cost support took effect. USAC believes that it’s required to carry out the caps from their effective date until they were “superseded” by the industry cap, “because the CETC industry-wide cap was effective prospectively and did not state that it superseded the company-specific caps retroactive.” But “at the written direction of Commission staff,” USAC said, it didn’t enforce the caps specific to the carriers, it said. “If USAC were to implement the company specific caps for AT&T and Alltel, significant amounts of funding previously disbursed would be recovered from each carrier.” USAC also asked for guidance on how to deal with carriers that didn’t maintain records for audit periods falling before an FCC rule on documentation for the high-cost program took effect 2008. The rule required carriers to keep funding receipts five years. USAC said the commission’s guidance would affect about 100 audits. “The potential recovery of support paid to beneficiaries is significant, if the support is deemed improper and recoverable due to carrier failure to comply” with document retention rules, it said. And USAC asked for clarifications on several issues related to reporting and classification of income tax and various types of revenue. FCC guidance would affect the amount of money carriers contribute to the USF and receive from it.