Rural phone companies can keep using old accounting rules for six more years

The Federal Communications Commission will let rural phone companies continue using their current accounting methods for another six years. This means these companies do not have to update how they divide costs between state and federal services, which affects their rates.

For decades, rural phone companies have used a specific set of rules to decide how much of their network costs are covered by federal subsidies versus state rates. These rules were supposed to change, but the FCC keeps extending the deadline. This latest extension means these companies avoid a potentially costly shift to new accounting, which could have forced them to raise local rates or cut services.