News Update - FCC-Broadband-Telecom - June 2025
SCOTUS To Review Broadband Providers’ Liability For Subscribers’ Copyright Infringements
The U.S. Supreme Court has granted a Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari in Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment (Docket No. 24-171), a case involving the standard for holding internet service providers (ISPs) secondarily liable for copyright infringement committed by broadband subscribers. In the original case, a group of record companies and music publishers (Plaintiffs) sued ISP Cox Communications for copyright infringement. Subscribers of Cox’s broadband service infringed Plaintiffs’ copyrights by downloading or distributing songs over the internet without permission. Rather than sue Cox’s subscribers, the Plaintiffs sued Cox using two theories of secondary liability: vicarious and contributory copyright infringement. A jury found Cox liable for both willful contributory and vicarious infringement of 10,017 copyrighted works owned by Plaintiff and awarded $1 billion in statutory damages. Cox appealed. The U.S. Court Of Appeals For The Fourth Circuit affirmed the jury’s finding of willful contributory infringement. However, the Fourth Circuit reversed the vicarious liability verdict and remanded for a new trial on damages because it found that Cox did not profit from its subscribers’ acts of infringement, a legal prerequisite for vicarious liability.
Cox then filed a Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari requesting U.S. Supreme Court review of the Fourth Circuit’s decision. Cox wants SCOTUS to address the question of who is responsible for online copyright infringement because the music industry is seeking to hold every ISP in the country liable for copyright infringement by their subscribers.
Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), ISPs can avail themselves of a safe harbor to limit their liability for claims of copyright infringement. To qualify, an ISP must adopt and reasonably implement a policy that provides for the termination in appropriate circumstances of subscribers and account holders of the ISP’s system or network who are “repeat infringers.” While the phrase “reasonably implement” is not defined in the statute, courts have interpreted the phrase to have two separate elements: (1) whether a service provider implemented its policy; and (2) whether that implementation was reasonable.
In the case being appealed, Cox was stripped of its DMCA safe harbor defense for failing to reasonably implement its policy by not terminating the service of alleged repeat infringers under appropriate circumstances. As Cox points out, ISPs have no way of verifying whether a bot-generated notice of infringement for a particular IP address is accurate, and no one can reliably identify the actual individual who used a particular internet connection for an illegal download. By granting Cox’s petition, SCOTUS will address the following two questions presented:
Did the Fourth Circuit err in holding that a service provider can be held liable for “materially contributing” to copyright infringement merely because it knew that people were using certain accounts to infringe and did not terminate access, without proof that the service provider affirmatively fostered infringement or otherwise intended to promote it? (This Court has held that a business commits contributory copyright infringement when it distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps to foster infringement.” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. 545 U.S. 913, 919 (2005). The courts of appeals have split three ways over the scope of that ruling, developing differing standards for when it is appropriate to hold an online service provider secondarily liable for copyright infringement committed by users.)
Did the Fourth Circuit err in holding that mere knowledge of another’s direct infringement suffices to find willfulness under 17 U.S.C. § 504(c)? (Generally, a defendant cannot be held liable as a willful violator of the law—and subject to increased penalties—without proof that it knew or recklessly disregarded a high risk that its own conduct was illegal. In conflict with the Eighth Circuit, the Fourth Circuit upheld an instruction allowing the jury to find willfulness if Cox knew its subscribers’ conduct was illegal—without proof Cox knew its own conduct in not terminating them was illegal.)
FCC Announces Broadband Data Collection Filing Window Opens On July 1, 2025; New Version Of Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric
June 30, 2025 – The FCC’s Broadband Data Task Force has announced that the seventh Broadband Data Collection (BDC) filing window for submitting broadband availability and other data as of June 30, 2025, will open on July 1, 2025. Facilities-based broadband service providers may begin to submit broadband internet access service availability data into the BDC system on July 1, 2025. All availability and subscription data must be submitted no later than September 2, 2025. Facilities-based broadband service providers and providers of fixed and mobile voice services, must also submit their June 30, 2025, subscription data required under Form 477 into the BDC system. Additional information on how to log in, navigate the BDC system, and submit data can be found in the BDC System User Guide.
The Task Force also has announced that the June 2025 update of the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric (Fabric) is being made available to existing Fabric license. According to the Public Notice, the new Fabric “incorporates data from updated data sources and other improvement efforts conducted by the FCC and CostQuest, as well as the results of Fabric challenges submitted by state, Tribal, and local governments, broadband service providers, and the public through the National Broadband Map.” Notable changes include “additional Broadband Serviceable Locations and corrections to addresses, unit counts, building types, land use, and geographic coordinates.”
U.S. Supreme: The Universal Service Fund Is Constitutional, No Violation Of The Nondelegation Doctrine
June 26, 2025 – The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a decision in FCC et al. v. Consumers’ Research which concludes that the federal universal service fund (USF) contribution system does not violate the nondelegation doctrine. Justice Kagan delivered the 6-3 opinion of the Court, in which Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Sotomayor, Justice Kavanaugh, Justice Barrett, and Justice Jackson joined. Justice Kavanaugh and Justice Jackson filed concurring opinions. Justice Gorsuch filed a 37-page dissenting opinion, in which Justice Thomas and Justice Alito joined.
In its challenge to the constitutionality of the USF, the Consumers’ Research group generally made the following arguments: the USF revenue-raising structure violates the nondelegation doctrine; Section 254 constitutes an unconstitutional delegation of Congress’ taxing power; and the FCC’s sub delegation of authority to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), the FCC-designated administrator of the USF, is illegal. The nondelegation doctrine limits Congress’ ability to delegate power to federal agencies. Under the Constitution, all legislative powers are vested in the United States Congress. However, Congress can and often does delegate substantial discretion to executive agencies to implement and enforce federal laws. When doing so, Congress must provide an intelligible principle which adequately guides the Executive agency. This is the core of the nondelegation doctrine. The “intelligible principle” must sufficiently “guide the delegee’s use of discretion.” If a court finds Congress makes a delegation to an agency with “no guidance whatsoever,” the court will strike it down.
In the majority opinion, Justice Kagan framed the questions in the case as “whether the universal-service scheme—more particularly, its contribution mechanism—violates the Constitution’s nondelegation doctrine, either because Congress has given away its power to the FCC or because the FCC has given away its power to a private company.” The Court’s answer to both is a resounding no.
The Court applied its long-standing nondelegation doctrine analysis – did Congress set out an “intelligible principle” to guide the power delegated to the FCC, and did Congress make clear both “the general policy” the FCC must pursue and “the boundaries of the delegated authority.” The Court found that the universal service statute, Section 254 of the Communications Act, directs the FCC to collect contributions that are “sufficient” to support universal-service programs. More importantly, the word “sufficient” sets both a floor and a ceiling—the FCC cannot raise less than what is adequate or necessary to finance its universal-service programs, but it also cannot raise more than that amount. Ultimately, the Court concluded that “under the usual intelligible-principle test, the universal-service contribution scheme clears the nondelegation bar.”
The Court rejected the argument put forth by challenger Consumers’ Research that a different or more stringent nondelegation test should be applied because USF contribution fees are taxes. The Court said Skinner v. Mid-America Pipeline Co. “made clear that whether a charge is a tax or a fee is irrelevant to the nondelegation inquiry.”
The Court found no violation of the so-called private nondelegation doctrine. Consumers’ Research claimed that the FCC conferred governmental power on the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), a private party, by giving USAC “carte blanche” to set each quarterly USF contribution factor. The Court determined that USAC is “broadly subordinate” to the FCC, may not make policy, and must carry out all its tasks consistent with the FCC’s rules, orders, and directives. The Court stated that “as long as an agency thus retains decision-making power, it may enlist private parties to give it recommendations.” Also, the Court rejected the nondelegation “combination theory.” In the decision below, the Fifth Circuit found that the combination of Congress’s delegation to the FCC and the FCC’s “subdelegation” to the USAC violated the Constitution, even if neither delegation did so independently. The Court said the Fifth Circuit’s logic does not work – a measure implicating (but not violating) one does not compound a measure implicating (but not violating) the other, in a way that pushes the combination over a constitutional line.
The Court’s opinion overturns a July 2024 en banc decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit which declared the USF contribution mechanism to be an unconstitutional tax and a violation of the nondelegation doctrine. Consumers’ Research, Cause Based Commerce, Inc., and various individual consumers brought the original legal challenge to the USF. The FCC (24-354) and a group of public interest and trade associations (24-422) sought Supreme Court review, with both petitions consolidated under Docket 24-354 for the Court’s 2024 October Term.
FCC Eliminates Broadband Data Collection Professional Engineer Certification Requirement, Replaces It With Biannual Qualified Engineer Certification
June 26, 2025 – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved a Fifth Report And Order that eliminates the Broadband Data Collection’s (BDC) the professional engineer certification requirement. Under the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act (Broadband DATA Act), fixed broadband service providers must report broadband availability on a location by-location basis and mobile wireless broadband service providers must report coverage areas using standardized propagation modeling parameters. The FCC’s Broadband DATA Act rules require broadband providers to have a corporate officer and either a corporate engineering officer or certified professional engineer (PE) certify their broadband availability filings. Since passage of the Broadband DATA Act in 2020 and its implementation, the FCC has waived the professional engineering certification requirement, and in 2024, sought comment on whether it should eliminate the professional engineering certification requirement. The FCC has eliminated the professional engineer certification requirement and replaced it with the following qualified engineer certification requirements:
“We adopt the proposal to amend section 1.7004(d) to eliminate the requirement that an engineering certification, to the extent not submitted by a corporate engineering officer, must be submitted by a certified professional engineer and instead require certification by a “qualified engineer” as outlined in the waiver orders issued by the Bureaus and Office. Specifically, we will allow an engineer to certify BDC biannual data filings if the engineer is: (i) a corporate officer possessing a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in engineering and who has direct knowledge of and responsibility for the carrier’s network design and construction; (ii) an engineer possessing a bachelor’s or post-graduate degree in electrical engineering, electronic engineering, or another similar technical discipline, and at least seven years of relevant experience in broadband network design and/or performance; or (iii) an employee or agent with specialized training relevant to broadband network engineering and design, deployment, and/or performance, and at least 10 years of relevant experience in broadband network engineering, design, and/or performance.”
FCC Announces Availability Of Unused Funds To Fully Satisfy Demand For Rural Health Care Program Funding For 2025
June 25, 2025 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has announced that, as of May 31, 2025, there are $129.30 million in unused Rural Health Care (RHC) Program funds that are available for use in future funding years beginning in funding year 2025. Further, the Bureau has directed the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) “to carry forward up to $129.30 million in unused funds from prior funding years to the extent necessary to satisfy funding year 2025 RHC Program demand.” As a result of the carry-forward funding, all RHC Program funding year 2025 funding requests can be fully funded without prioritization. The RHC Program funding cap for funding year 2025 is $723,892,841, and the internal cap on multi-year commitments and upfront payments under the Healthcare Connect Fund Program is $182,780,877. The estimated total RHC Program demand for funding year 2025 is $823.08 million, of which approximately $184.6 million represents demand for multi-year commitments and upfront payments in the Healthcare Connect Fund.
Three Items On Final Agenda For FCC June 26, 2025 Open Meeting
June 18, 2025 – The Federal Communications Commission has announced the following final agenda for the FCC’s open meeting scheduled for Thursday, June 26, 2025:
Media Bureau: Revisions to Cable Television Rate Regulations; Implementation of Sections of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992: Rate Regulation; Adoption of Uniform Accounting System for the Provision of Regulated Cable Service – The Commission will consider a Report and Order that would promote competition and economic growth by simplifying and streamlining burdensome cable rate regulations, eliminating unnecessary forms and rules, deregulating certain cable equipment and small cable systems, limiting regulation to residential subscribers, and otherwise reducing regulatory burdens. (MB Docket No. 02-144; MM Docket Nos. 92-266, 93-215; CS Docket No. 94-28)
Broadband Data Task Force: Establishing the Digital Opportunity Data Collection; Modernizing The FCC Form 477 Data Program – The Commission will consider a Report and Order that would eliminate the professional engineer certification requirement for the biannual Broadband Data Collection filings under section 1.7004(d) of the Commission’s rules and instead allow the biannual filings to be certified by a qualified engineer that has relevant minimum experience and education. (WC Docket Nos. 19-195, 11-10)
Consumer And Governmental Affairs Bureau: Telecommunications Relay Services And Speech-To-Speech Services For Individuals With Hearing And Speech Disabilities; T-Mobile Accessibility Petition For Rulemaking To Amend 47 CFR § 64.604(B)(1) To Eliminate The Requirement That TTY-Based Relay Service Be Capable Of Communicating With ASCII Format – The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to delete a provision in its rules that requires telecommunications relay services providers to support the now obsolete ASCII transmission format. (CG Docket No. 03-123, RM-11931)
The FCC’s June 26th open meeting is scheduled to commence at 10:30 a.m. ET in the Commission Meeting Room of the Federal Communications Commission, 45 L Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. The meeting is open to the public, but the FCC headquarters building is not open access, and all guests must check in with and be screened by FCC security at the main entrance on L Street. All FCC open meetings are streamed live at www.fcc.gov/live.
Senate Confirms Olivia Trusty As FCC Commissioner
June 17, 2025 – The United States Senate has voted to confirm Olivia Trusty as the newest member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). With the recent departure of two Commissioners (Starks and Simington), there are now three FCC Commissioners: Chairman Brendan Carr (R), Olivia Trusty (R), and Anna Gomez (D). Under the Communications Act, the FCC needs three Commissioners for a quorum.
USF Contribution Factor For Third Quarter Of 2025 – 36 Percent
June 11, 2025 – The FCC’s Office of Managing Director (OMD) has announced that the proposed universal service fund (USF) contribution factor for the third quarter of 2025 will be 36 percent. If the FCC takes no action on the proposed USF contribution factor within 14 days, it will be declared approved.
The 36 percent contribution factor for 3Q 2025 is a slight decrease from the 36.6 percent contribution factor that was used for 2Q 2025 and which was an all-time high. The USF contribution factor for 1Q 2025 was 36.3 percent. Historical information on quarterly universal service fund contribution factors is available online from the FCC.
For the third quarter of 2025, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) projects $8.045954 billion in total interstate and international end-user telecommunications revenues will be collected ($8.223063 billion in collections were projected for 2Q 2025, and $8.176992 billion was projected for 1Q 2025). USAC estimates that $2.113790 billion is needed to cover the total demand and expenses for all Federal universal service support mechanisms (revenue requirement) in the second quarter of 2025 (the 2Q 2025 demand was estimated at $2.186160 billion, and the 1Q 2025 demand was estimated at $2.161100 billion).
Total third quarter 2025 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: $639.18 million (2Q 2025 was $653.04 million, and 1Q 2025 was $657.15 million)
Rural Health Care: $179.03 million (2Q 2025 was $104.10 million, and 1Q 2025 was $129.50 million)
High-Cost: $1.05065 billion (2Q 2025 was $1.12390 billion, and 1Q 2025 was $1.08640 billion)
Lifeline: $244.93 million (2Q 2025 was $305.12 million, and 1Q 2025 was $288.05 million)
Do-Over! NTIA Policy Notice Makes Fundamental Changes To BEAD Program
June 6, 2025 – The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has issued a Restructuring Policy Notice that modifies the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The $42.45 billion BEAD Program was created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to provide high-speed broadband internet access throughout the U.S. Each state and territory (Eligible Entity) will use BEAD Program funding to administer grant programs that make awards to subgrantees to deploy broadband to unserved and underserved locations in their state and territory.
The new Policy Notice modifies and replaces certain requirements outlined in the original May 2022 BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Each Eligible Entity must now comply with the requirements and obligations in the Policy Notice and submit and gain approval of a new Final Proposal. NTIA will complete its review of each Final Proposal within 90 days of submission. By issuing the changes, NTIA is hitting the reset button on the program – Eligible Entities must rescind all preliminary and provisional subaward selections and notify applicants that a further round of applications will be considered before final awards are made. Eligible Entities that have already completed subgrantee selection must conduct at least one “Benefit of the Bargain” round. The Policy Notice Fact Sheet provides the following summary of the changes to the BEAD Program:
INSTITUTING a Tech-Neutral Approach – NTIA will adopt a technology neutral approach for the BEAD subgrantee selection process by returning the definition of a “Priority Broadband Project” to statutory language. Removing the preference for a single technology will bring the full force of the competitive marketplace to bear and allow American taxpayers to obtain the greatest return on their investment.
REMOVING Burdensome Labor and Employment Requirements – NTIA will limit the labor and employment requirement of the statute to a certification of compliance with existing law and eliminate the central planning and DEI labor and employment edicts that disadvantaged both workers and providers, drove up costs, and undermined broadband buildouts.
ELIMINATING Climate Change Requirements – NTIA will eliminate the extraneous and burdensome obligations to conduct climate analyses. Instead, NTIA guidance will focus on ensuring reliability and resiliency of the network.
ENDING Oppressive Net Neutrality Requirements – NTIA will eliminate the NOFO requirement that micromanaged network management and imposed wholesale access requirements on applicants.
REMOVING Time-Consuming, DEI-Driven Coordination Requirements – NTIA will eliminate expansive, extralegal requirements on Eligible Entities to consult with a myriad of special interest groups, including representatives from demographic and identity-based organizations.
ENDING Needless Municipal Broadband Paperwork – NTIA will eliminate the flawed requirement in the Final Proposal that Eligible Entities favor participation of non-traditional broadband providers (such as municipalities or political subdivisions), an incentive that risked redirecting scarce funds to less capable providers.
ENDING Backdoor Rate Regulation – NTIA will refuse to accept any low-cost service option proposed in an Eligible Entity’s Final Proposal that attempts to impose a specific rate level (i.e., dollar amount) and instead call on Eligible Entities to permit providers to propose their existing, market driven low-cost plans to meet the statutory low-cost requirement. NTIA will also eliminate the requirement that Eligible Entities have a middle-class affordability plan, which was undefined and impossible to operationalize.
STREAMLINING Environmental Reviews – NTIA will require the use of an NTIA-developed tool to significantly reduce the time and effort required for broadband permitting. The Environmental Screening and Permitting Tracking Tool (ESAPTT) is designed to accelerate National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processing timelines by several months and will be utilized by all Eligible Entities deploying BEAD.
NTIA has released a slide deck, titled Understanding the BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice, which reviews major program shifts and compares and contrasts the BEAD NOFO & Restructuring BEAD Policy Notice.
FCC Issues Tentative Agenda For June 26, 2025 Open Meeting
June 5, 2025 – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has announced the following tentative agenda for the FCC’s next open meeting scheduled for Thursday, June 26, 2025:
Removing Obsolete and Unworkable Cable Television Rate Rules – The Commission will consider a Report and Order that would promote competition and economic growth by simplifying and streamlining burdensome cable rate regulations, eliminating unnecessary forms and rules, deregulating certain cable equipment and small cable systems, limiting regulation to residential subscribers, and otherwise reducing regulatory burdens. (MB Docket No. 02-144; MM Docket Nos. 92-266, 93-215; CS Docket No. 94-28)
Streamlining the Engineering Review for Broadband Data Collection – The Commission will consider a Report and Order that would eliminate the professional engineer certification requirement for the biannual Broadband Data Collection filings under section 1.7004(d) of the Commission’s rules and instead allow the biannual filings to be certified by a qualified engineer that has relevant minimum experience and education. (WC Docket Nos. 19-195, 11-10)
Modernizing TTY Rules for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities – The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to delete a provision in its rules that requires telecommunications relay services providers to support the now obsolete ASCII transmission format. (CG Docket No. 03-123, RM-11931)
The FCC’s June 26th open meeting is scheduled to commence at 10:30 a.m. ET in the Commission Meeting Room of the Federal Communications Commission, 45 L Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. The meeting is open to the public, but the FCC headquarters building is not open access, and all guests must check in with and be screened by FCC security at the main entrance on L Street. All FCC open meetings are streamed live at www.fcc.gov/live.
FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington Announces Departure From Agency
June 4, 2025 – Federal Communications Commission Commissioner (FCC) Nathan Simington has announced he is leaving his position at the FCC:
I will be concluding my tenure at the Federal Communications Commission at the end of this week. It has been the greatest honor of my professional life to serve the American people as a Commissioner. I am deeply honored to have been entrusted with this responsibility by President Donald J. Trump during his first term.
Following Commissioner Simington’s departure, the FCC will only have two members: Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Anna Gomez. Commissioner Geoffrey Starks will officially leave the FCC on June 6th. In January, President Trump nominated Olivia Trusty to serve as an FCC Commissioner. She is awaiting Senate confirmation. Under the Communications Act, the FCC needs three Commissioners for a quorum.
Mergers & Acquisitions: Fiber Acquisition Operations Arkansas, LLC Purchasing Arkwest Communications, Inc.
June 2, 2025 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau is seeking public comment on a Section 214 transfer of control application filed by Arkwest Communications, Inc. (Arkwest / Licensee), Spectracomm, Inc. (Spectracomm / Transferor), and Fiber Acquisition Operations Arkansas, LLC (Fiber Acquisition / Transferee), requesting FCC consent to transfer control of Arkwest from Spectracomm to Fiber Acquisition. Comments are due on or before June 16, 2025, and reply comments are due June 23, 2025.
Arkwest, the acquisition target, is an Arkansas corporation. It operates a 100% fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) network that provides local and long-distance telephone and broadband internet access service to residents in Yell, Scott, and Perry counties in Arkansas. Arkwest holds blanket domestic Section 214 authority, and is an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC).
Spectracomm is an Arkansas corporation that acts as a holding company. It owns 100% of the equity interests in Arkwest. Spectracomm holds no state or federal license, and is not affiliated with any other domestic service provider.
Fiber Acquisition is a Delaware corporation that does not hold any state or Federal licenses. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fiber Acquisition Operations, LLC dba PhireLink. PhireLink owns Rebeltec Communications, LLC, which provides high-speed fixed wireless and fiber-based broadband internet service to residential and business customers in Southeastern Colorado and Western Kansas. PhireLink also owns Camellia City Fiber, LLC, which provides high-speed fiber-based broadband internet services and Tammany Wireless Holdings, LLC, which provides high-speed fixed wireless broadband internet services, both to residential and business customers in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. Fiber Acquisition is thereby affiliated with Rebeltec, Camellia, and Tammany Wireless through common ownership. PhireLink is wholly owned by Fiber Acquisition Holdings, LLC, which is ultimately controlled by Glenn F. Post, James Davidson, and Benjamin A. Friedman, each a U.S. citizen.
Pursuant to the terms of an April 25, 2025, Stock Purchase Agreement, Fiber Acquisition will acquire all of the outstanding capital stock in Spectracomm. As a result, indirect control of Arkwest will be transferred to Fiber Acquisition. The Transaction will not affect the rates, terms, and conditions under which Arkwest’s current customers receive service, and will not result in the discontinuance of service to any of Arkwest's customers.
USAC Files Data For Third Quarter 2025 USF Contribution Base: $8,045,954,273
June 1, 2025 – The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) has filed projected universal service fund (USF) contribution base data for the third quarter of calendar year 2025. The revenue data will be used to determine the USF contribution factor for 3Q 2025.
For the third quarter of 2025, USAC has determined that the total projected collected interstate and international end user revenue base for the USF support mechanisms is $8,045,954,273. (For comparison purposes, for 1Q 2025, the projected contribution base was $8,176,991,774, and for 2Q 2025, it was $8,223,063,129.)
The 3Q 2025 contribution base data was calculated using projected revenue amounts for July – September 2025 reported by telecommunications service providers on their FCC Forms 499-Q, which were due May 1, 2025. For the third quarter of 2025, USAC received projected revenue data from 3,163 USF contributors who filed the Form 499-Q. USAC estimated revenue data for 247 non-de minimis service providers that had previously submitted Form 499-Q information to USAC, but failed to make the latest 499-Q filing.
After the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approves the total USF contribution base, the quarterly funding requirements for USF support mechanisms, and projected USF administrative costs, the FCC will establish a USF contribution factor for the second quarter of 2025. The new contribution factor will be announced by an FCC Public Notice. Acting on behalf of the FCC, USAC will then bill USF contributors on a monthly basis for their individual obligations based on the approved contribution factor. USAC’s universal service filings with the FCC are available online.
