Kelley Drye’s Communications Practice has prepared a Client Advisory titled, “FCC Imposes Interim Cap on Universal Service Support Funding.”

The Advisory discusses an Order released on May 1, 2008 by the Federal Communications Commission, imposing an interim, emergency cap on the amount of high-cost universal service support that competitive eligible telecommunications carriers (“ETCs”) may receive. In releasing the Order, the Commission was acting on recommendations of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service.

The cap limits disbursements of high-cost universal support made to competitive ETCs to the amount of support that each state was eligible to receive during March 2008, applied on an annualized basis. The Commission claims that the cap is merely an interim measure pending release of a final order on comprehensive universal service reform. The Commission pledges to release the final order shortly after the comment cycle on three pending Public Notices closes on May 19, 2008.