How It Impacts Your Business

Federal Universal Connectivity Charge

The FCC has established a Universal Service Fund (USF) that provides telecommunications services to customers in rural areas, low income customers and advanced services, such as Internet access, to schools, libraries and health care providers. AT&T and other carriers are required to contribute to the USF. Since January, 1998, AT&T has recovered this contribution, and its associated administrative costs, through a Universal Connectivity Charge (UCC). As a result of a December 13, 2002, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision, the FCC decided on a prospective basis that if a carrier wants to recover its Universal Service Fund (USF) assessment payments directly from its customers in a separate line item, it can only do so at a rate which does not exceed the applicable USF contribution factor paid by the carrier. As a result of this decision, the Administrative Expense Fee was created. This fee recovers a portion of AT&T’s internal costs associated with the support of the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund (USF) program. Effective January 1st, 2024, the 1st Quarter UCC factor will increase from 34.5% to 34.6%. The applicable quarterly contribution factor can also be found on the FCC’s Contribution Factors & Quarterly Filings Site. Effective January 1, 2023, the Administrative Expense Fee, that recovers a portion of AT&T’s internal costs associated with the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund (USF) and other related programs such as E-Rate and Rural Health Care remains at 1.71%. We continue to make every effort to recover these costs in a fair and equitable manner.