USF - Not taking action to get timely receipt of reports from "terminating carriers"

Auditor General's Findings

Terminating Carriers did not faithfully submit the traffic reports to USF on a timely basis. The report should provide, among other things, details of the duration and the applicable rates of all inbound international voice telephony calls terminated to fixed lines and mobile lines.

We noted that some terminating carriers did not faithfully submit the required Traffic Report on a timely basis. Of the 43 expected reports to be received from carriers for the period April 2012 to October 2015, only one carrier (Terminating Carrier 1) submitted all the required reports, while the other two (Terminating Carrier 2 and 3) submitted 26 and 37 reports, respectively. Notwithstanding, we saw no evidence that USF took any action to ensure that the carriers complied with the established timeline for submission of the reports.

Permanent Secretary (current): Carol Palmer

Breach Category: Resource Management

Permanent Secretary (at breach):

Breach Type: Slow Revenue Collections

Status: Progressing

Last Assessed: July 13, 2016

Year Reported: 2015

Year Resolved:

Recommendation

The Universal Service Fund should develop and implement strategies to improve the collection of the universal service levy from carriers. To this end, an appropriate internal control mechanism should be put in place to ensure that the Fund receives the requisite monthly reports in a timely manner. Furthermore, robust communication must be initiated with telecommunication carriers to ensure that traffic information and levy payments are made as prescribed by the Telecommunications Act and the Ministerial Order.

JAMP Update

Did not receive documentation to indicate or substantiate the status of delinquency for report submission, as requested. Rather, we received a report compiled by the USF.

Document provided limited reports to two carriers and indicated that all reports were submitted and none were delinquent. However, USF is dealing with more than one carrier as demonstrated by the “Reports Received” report.

JAMP has requested supporting documentation for the USF report.