USF Overhaul by End of the Summer a ‘Realistic’ Target, Clyburn Says
The FCC is on track to complete part of Universal Service Fund overhaul by late summer, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said Tuesday during a taping of C-SPAN’s The Communicators, scheduled to air over the weekend. Clyburn also said she has not prejudged AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile, a deal on which the companies are expected to formally seek commission approval in filings Thursday.
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"Not only is it realistic, it is a must do,” Clyburn said when asked about an August target date for USF reform, enunciated last week by Chairman Julius Genachowski (CD April 18 p2). “We have a system that is not fully functional,” Clyburn said. “It’s not very efficient. We're going to have to make some very difficult decisions over the next 10 years or so.”
The FCC this week was flooded with comments, with a filing deadline Monday on a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking comment on broad universal service and intercarrier compensation reform (See separate report in this issue). Acting by the end of August is an “aggressive schedule, Clyburn said. “It’s going to be difficult,” she said. “You've got rural carriers who are concerned. They should be.”
Clyburn declined to comment on the specifics of the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. “I am going to keep an open mind about the proposed transaction,” she said. “As a commissioner, as a commission, we have to look at both the harms and potential benefits. … If there are harms identified we must address them.”
Wireless competition must remain a key FCC focus, Clyburn said, repeating remarks made at a recent Free Press conference that she will be “super-vigilant” in this area (CD April 11 p6). “What is important is the consumer experience, what is important is the marketplace,” she said. “There are at least 10 million persons in rural census blocks that have two or fewer providers. … That is not competition. What I worry about, by and large, are those areas where you don’t have robust competition."
Clyburn said she’s not certain the U.S. faces a spectrum “crisis,” though demands are increasing quickly. “We're having some very interesting and difficult conversations as it relates to that, especially with the broadcasters,” she said.
Clyburn said she understands why some in Congress are critical of the FCC for acting too slowly and inefficiently. “For the most part I welcome it,” she said. “It’s not always comfortable.” Clyburn said as a state commissioner for 11 years she was once part of the “chorus” criticizing the FCC. “When you get inside of the agency you recognize all of the noticing requirements, all of the things that you have to do, because it’s mandated,” she said. “You can’t just make a decision quickly without getting input from the public.” Criticism is lobbed at the FCC from the Hill “regardless of who is in power,” she noted.
Clyburn, who will mark her second anniversary as an FCC commissioner in August, conceded that it has been a tough adjustment moving from the South Carolina Public Service Commission to the FCC. “It has not been the easiest coming from a relatively small, rural state … to the big city of Washington,” she said. “It’s been somewhat of a challenge. I think it has given me a very solid foundation to know what … people on the ground think.”