Are Universal Service distributions included in the OUS surcharge base?
No. USF distributions from various federal and state universal service programs are recorded on line 7 of the OUS 2 Worksheet. They are excluded from the OUS base. Federal support distributions would include the federal High-Cost, Lifeline, Link-Up, Schools and Libraries, and Rural Health Care Provider programs. State support distributions would include High-Cost (i.e., Docket UM 731 and the universal service component of UM 384 OCAP), OTAP, Link-Up, and the speech, and hearing impaired programs. For end-user surcharge billing, the OUS surcharge would be applied to the net retail bill amount after credits for Lifeline, and OTAP.
