The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) has ordered seven phone companies to repay over $9 million to the Universal Service Fund (USF) after audits discovered overpayments of federal support. The Bureau has adopted six orders to resolve seven appeals of Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) audit reports, which found that certain rate-of-return carriers had sought and received improper support. The orders address non-compliance by Marquette Adams Telephone Cooperative (Wisconsin), West Kentucky Rural Telephone Cooperative Corp. and Duo County Telephone Cooperative Corp (Kentucky), Rural Telephone Service Co. (Kansas), Hart Telephone Company (Georgia), Cross Telephone Company (Oklahoma), and Knology Total Communications (Alabama). Such orders build on action taken by the Commission in June ordering the recovery of over $5.5 million in improper support from Big Bend Telephone Company (Texas).
