FCC Sets $3.94 Billion E-Rate Budget; USF Contribution Factor May Drop, Consultant Says
The FCC's E-rate budget will be $3.94 billion for funding year 2016 (beginning July 1), a 1 percent increase from the $3.9 billion budget in the current funding year, said a Wireline Bureau public notice Friday in docket 02-6. The…
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E-rate program, which gives schools and libraries telecom discounts, is subject to annual inflation adjustments. Meanwhile, consultant Billy Jack Gregg projected the contribution factor for carriers paying into the overall USF program would drop from 17.9 percent to 17.6 percent of interstate and international end-user revenue, if the industry revenue base stays constant. The decline would occur because USF demand is projected to fall in the quarter due to out-of-period adjustments, Gregg said in an email May 2. But if revenue falls -- and it has been trending down over the years -- the contribution factor could be higher than 17.6 percent, he said, noting the Universal Service Administrative Co. will issue its revenue projections at the end of May.