The FCC’s Office of Managing Director (OMD) has announced that the proposed universal service contribution factor for the third quarter of 2015 will be 0.171 or 17.1 percent. This is a .3 percent decrease from the 17.4 percent contribution factor that was used for the second quarter of 2015. OMD projects that the total collected interstate and international end-user telecommunications revenues for the third quarter of 2015 will be $15.05 billion, while the projected revenue needed to fund all four universal service fund mechanisms in the first quarter of 2015 is $2.170 billion. The projected total demand and expenses for each universal service fund support mechanism for the second quarter of 2015 are as follows: Schools and Libraries – $619 million; Rural Health Care – $68 million, High-Cost – $1.139 billion; and Low Income – $345 million. If the FCC takes no action on the proposed contribution factor within 14 days following its announcement, the rate will be declared approved.
