Calculations used to measure the erroneous payment rate for the u...
Calculations used to measure the erroneous payment rate for the universal service high-cost fund lacked “transparency,” the Rural Cellular Association told the House and Senate Commerce committees Thursday. The association took issue with a November report from the FCC’s…
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Office of Inspector General, which said the high-cost fund had an error payment rate 23.3 percent. A 2002 law calls government programs with rates higher than 2.3 percent “at risk.” The association said the IG’s report created the impression that nearly $1 billion of the fund goes to waste, fraud and abuse yearly. “Indeed, we believe some decision makers have already reached such a conclusion,” the group said by letter. The report blamed insufficient documentation for most erroneous payments, the association said, but it didn’t explain the conclusion. To set the record straight, the Government Accountability Office should examine how many payments listed as erroneous “have in fact been lawfully invested,” the association said. It also suggested an information request to competitive eligible telecommunications carriers and to incumbents, so they can help policymakers find out whether high-cost money is spent properly.