Large Telcos Propose FCC 'Opt-Out' Plan for Part 32 Accounting Shift to GAAP
Three telcos asked the FCC to allow price-cap carriers to opt out of Part 32 accounting rules and move to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). AT&T, CenturyLink and Verizon said they were making regulatory proposals in response to commission suggestions…
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that price-cap carriers could be shifted from the Part 32 uniform system of accounts (USOA) while continuing to provide necessary information for the agency to perform oversight. "These changes would permit a price cap carrier, on an optional and voluntary basis, to opt-out of the Commission’s Part 32 USOA requirements and, if it did, would provide that the carrier is relieved of the Part 32 rules in their entirety with the exception of a single, targeted obligation: to maintain the ability to create and report, upon request by the Commission, its GAAP accounting data in conformance with the Part 32 account structure," said a filing Friday in docket 14-130 from the three telcos. They said an FCC order providing such relief also could subject carriers to certain targeted conditions, including a lengthy transition on pole attachments rates in which carriers opting for the relief "would be required to adjust (increase or decrease) their annually computed GAAP-based rates by an Implementation Rate Difference for twelve years."