§  54.706   Contributions.

   (a) Entities that provide interstate telecommunications to the public,
   or to such classes of users as to be effectively available to the
   public, for a fee will be considered telecommunications carriers
   providing interstate telecommunications services and must contribute to
   the universal service support mechanisms. Certain other providers of
   interstate telecommunications, such as payphone providers that are
   aggregators, providers of interstate telecommunications for a fee on a
   non-common carrier basis, and interconnected VoIP providers, also must
   contribute to the universal service support mechanisms. Interstate
   telecommunications include, but are not limited to:

   (1) Cellular telephone and paging services;

   (2) Mobile radio services;

   (3) Operator services;

   (4) Personal communications services (PCS);

   (5) Access to interexchange service;

   (6) Special access service;

   (7) WATS;

   (8) Toll-free service;

   (9) 900 service;

   (10) Message telephone service (MTS);

   (11) Private line service;

   (12) Telex;

   (13) [Reserved]

   (14) Video services;

   (15) Satellite service;

   (16) Resale of interstate services;

   (17) Payphone services; and

   (18) Interconnected VoIP services.

   (19) Prepaid calling card providers.

   (b) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, every entity
   required to contribute to the federal universal service support
   mechanisms under paragraph (a) of this section shall contribute on the
   basis of its projected collected interstate and international end-user
   telecommunications revenues, net of projected contributions.

   (c) Any entity required to contribute to the federal universal service
   support mechanisms whose projected collected interstate end-user
   telecommunications revenues comprise less than 12 percent of its
   combined projected collected interstate and international end-user
   telecommunications revenues shall contribute based only on such
   entity's projected collected interstate end-user telecommunications
   revenues, net of projected contributions. For purposes of this
   paragraph, an “entity” shall refer to the entity that is subject to the
   universal service reporting requirements in § 54.711 and shall include
   all of that entity's affiliated providers of interstate and
   international telecommunications and telecommunications services.

   (d) Entities providing open video systems (OVS), cable leased access,
   or direct broadcast satellite (DBS) services are not required to
   contribute on the basis of revenues derived from those services. The
   following entities will not be required to contribute to universal
   service: non-profit health care providers; broadcasters; systems
   integrators that derive less than five percent of their systems
   integration revenues from the resale of telecommunications. Prepaid
   calling card providers are not required to contribute on the basis of
   revenues derived from prepaid calling cards sold by, to, or pursuant to
   contract with the Department of Defense (DoD) or a DoD entity.

   (e) Any entity required to contribute to the federal universal service
   support mechanisms shall retain, for at least five years from the date
   of the contribution, all records that may be required to demonstrate to
   auditors that the contributions made were in compliance with the
   Commission's universal service rules. These records shall include
   without limitation the following: Financial statements and supporting
   documentation; accounting records; historical customer records; general
   ledgers; and any other relevant documentation. This document retention
   requirement also applies to any contractor or consultant working on
   behalf of the contributor.

   [ 63 FR 70575 , Dec. 21, 1998, as amended at  64 FR 60358 , Nov. 5, 1999;
    67 FR 11260 , Mar. 13, 2002;  67 FR 79532 , Dec. 30, 2002;  71 FR 38796 ,
   July 10, 2006;  71 FR 43673 , Aug. 2, 2006;  72 FR 54218 , Sept. 24, 2007;
    82 FR 48777 , Oct. 20, 2017]