Sep 13

Sep 13 Summary Of 2023 USF Contribution Factors

USF Contribution Factor For Fourth Quarter Of 2023: 34.5 Percent

September 13, 2023 – The FCC’s Office of Managing Director (OMD) has announced that the proposed universal service fund (USF) contribution factor for the fourth quarter of 2023 will be 34.5 percent. If the FCC takes no action on the proposed USF contribution factor within 14 days, it will be declared approved. The 34.5 percent USF contribution factor for 4Q 202 is a significant increase from the 29.2 percent contribution factor from last quarter.

For the fourth quarter of 2023, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) projects $8.172483 billion in total interstate and international end-user telecommunications revenues will be collected ($8.534206 billion was projected for 3Q 2023). USAC estimates that $2.078830 billion is needed to cover the total demand and expenses for all Federal universal service support mechanisms (revenue requirement) in the fourth quarter of 2023 (the 3Q 2023 demand was estimated at $1.912440 billion).

Total fourth quarter 2023 demand includes projected program support, administrative expenses, and true-ups and adjustments, which breaks out among the USF support mechanisms as follows:

E-Rate Schools & Libraries: $652.04 million (3Q 2023 was $586.77 million)
Rural Health Care: $97.22 million (3Q 2023 was $66.17 million)
High-Cost: $1.06688 billion (3Q 2023 was $1.04415 billion )
Lifeline: $262.71 million (3Q 2023 was $206.97 million)
Connected Care: $(0.02) million (3Q 2023 was $8.38 million)

USF Contribution Factor For Third Quarter Of 2023: 29.2 Percent

June 14, 2023 – The FCC’s Office of Managing Director (OMD) has announced that the proposed universal service fund (USF) contribution factor for the third quarter of 2023 will be 29.2 percent. If the FCC takes no action on the proposed USF contribution factor within 14 days, it will be declared approved. The 29.2 percent USF contribution factor for 3Q 2023 is minute increase from the 29 percent contribution factor from last quarter.

For the third quarter of 2023, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) projects $8.534206 billion in total interstate and international end-user telecommunications revenues will be collected ($8.761743 billion was collected for 2Q 2023). USAC estimates that $1.912440 billion is needed to cover the total demand and expenses for all Federal universal service support mechanisms (revenue requirement) in the third quarter of 2023 (the 2Q 2023 demand was $1.951900 billion).

Total third quarter 2023 demand includes projected program support, administrative expenses, and true-ups and adjustments, which breaks out among the USF support mechanisms as follows:

E-Rate Schools & Libraries: $586.77 million (2Q 2023 was $609.15 million)
Rural Health Care: $66.17 million (2Q 2023 was $159.36 million)
High-Cost: $1.04415 billion (2Q 2023 was $972.91 million)
Lifeline: $206.97 million (2Q 2023 was $202.05 million)
Connected Care: $8.38 million (2Q 2023 was $8.43 million)

USF Contribution Factor For Second Quarter Of 2023: 29 Percent

March 14, 2023 – The FCC’s Office of Managing Director (OMD) has announced that the proposed universal service fund (USF) contribution factor for the second quarter of 2023 will be 29.0 percent. If the FCC takes no action on the proposed USF contribution factor within 14 days, it will be declared approved. For what it’s worth, the 29 percent 2Q 2023 USF contribution factor is a slight decrease from the 32.6 percent contribution factor used for the first quarter of 2023.

For the second quarter of 2023, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) projects $8.761743 billion in total interstate and international end-user telecommunications revenues will be collected ($8.749750 billion was collected for 1Q 2023). USAC estimates that $1.951900 billion is needed to cover the total demand and expenses for all Federal universal service support mechanisms (revenue requirement) in the second quarter of 2023 (the 1Q 2023 demand was $2.130060 billion).

Total second quarter 2023 demand includes projected program support, administrative expenses, and true-ups and adjustments, which breaks out among the USF support mechanisms as follows:

E-Rate Schools & Libraries: $609.15 million (1Q 2023 was $697.13 million)
Rural Health Care: $159.36 million (1Q 2023 was $70.79 million)
High-Cost: $972.91 million (1Q 2023 was $1.15243 billion)
Lifeline: $202.05 million (1Q 2023 was $201.21 million)
Connected Care: $8.43 million (1Q 2023 was $8.50 million)

USF Contribution Factor For First Quarter Of 2023: 32.6 Percent

December 9, 2022 – The FCC’s Office of Managing Director (OMD) has announced that the proposed universal service fund (USF) contribution factor for the first quarter of 2023 will be 32.6 percent. If the FCC takes no action on the proposed USF contribution factor within 14 days, it will be declared approved.

For the first quarter of 2023, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) projects $8.749750 billion in total interstate and international end-user telecommunications revenues will be collected. (The 4Q 2022 total was $8.624083 billion; the 3Q 2022 total was $8.285056 billion; the 2Q 2022 total was $8.751403 billion, and the 1Q 2022 total was $9.235846 billion.)

USAC estimates that $2.130060 billion is needed to cover the total demand and expenses for all Federal universal service support mechanisms (revenue requirement) in the first quarter of 2023. (The 4Q 2022 demand was $1.914030 billion; the 3Q 2022 demand was $2.036310 billion; the 2Q 2022 demand was $1.664020 billion; and the 1Q 2022 demand was $1.84091 billion.)

Total first quarter 2023 demand includes projected program support, administrative expenses, and true-ups and adjustments, which breaks out among the USF support mechanisms as follows:

E-Rate Schools & Libraries: $697.13 million (4Q 2022 was $609.07 million)
Rural Health Care: $70.79 million (4Q 2022 was $0.11 million)
High-Cost: $1.15243 billion (4Q 2022 was $1.08506 billion)
Lifeline: $201.21 million (4Q 2022 was $211.43 million)
Connected Care: $8.50 million (4Q 2022 was $8.36 million)

The 32.6 percent contribution factor for 1Q 2023 is an increase of 3.7 from the 28.9 percent contribution factor that was used for 4Q 2022. Historical information on quarterly universal service fund contribution factors is available online from the FCC.