The Rural Cellular Association and the Universal Service for America...

support. “USF is a critical issue for RCA members,” association President Steve Berry said in a news release. “It can mean the very survival of many smaller competitive carriers wishing to serve consumers in rural America.” RCA said the Corr order created an illegal “slush-fund.” The Universal Service Coalition, formed in 2008, includes Cellular One and Corr Wireless -- the competitive eligible telecommunications carriers who have been fighting to preserve their high-cost support since at least last year. Cellular One and other CETCs have accused Verizon, for instance, of padding its universal service bills by unlawfully including Alltel lines into its annual line count. Earlier this month, 13 CETCs -- including Cellular One and Corr -- accused the commission of violating the companies’ Fifth Amendment rights against illegal takings by reducing the interim cap (CD March 14 p2). The FCC is in the midst of a USF and intercarrier compensation overhaul. Rural operators have been the most vocal in their complaints about the proposed rewrite, saying that the FCC’s plans will leave them at the mercy of the telco giants. An FCC spokesman said the “reforms the Commission is proposing are long overdue and it is critical that we take action soon to streamline the system and cut wasteful spending. As part of that process, it will be essential for the Commission to appropriately redirect a percentage of the USF funding to broadband services to help modernize the program and better meet consumer demands into the future.” The appeal was filed in the D.C. Circuit, RCA spokeswoman Lucy Tutwiler said. “It’s a suit to ensure the FCC uses the funds that have already been collected for the purposes of which they were collected,” she said.