Numbers-based collection of federal Universal Service Fund (USF) contributions would be simpler to administer and easier for consumers to understand, said an industry study released Tues. The Numbers Coalition, made up of wireless, cable and telecom associations, said the per-number fee would be about $1.20 per month, about what residential wireline consumers now pay. Low-income Lifeline customers could be exempted, with adjustments to ensure against unreasonable assessment against low-volume and low-cost services, the study said. “The numbers-based USF fee does not discourage telephone usage and thus increases consumer welfare as a whole,” the study said: “Consumers would be able to make more long-distance calls for their collar than they do today.”

Arguing for reverse auctions, Paul Garnett, CTIA asst. vp, met this week with Dir. Billy Jack Gregg of the W.Va. PSC’s Consumer Advocate Div. to explain the group’s position on USF reform, CTIA said in a filing at the FCC. Gregg is an important telecom player in NASUCA. Reverse auctions could “drive down the cost of universal service while providing incentives for efficient investment” in wireless and other new technologies, CTIA said.

Cingular’s very strong financial results for Q4 and annual 2006 indicate the wireless carrier’s strength as it adopts the AT&T brand under newly merged parents AT&T and BellSouth, analysts said. The company’s results and guidance show its relative independence from regulatory uncertainty, a trend apparent throughout the wireless industry, they said. Debates may occur at the margins of communications policy, industry figures said, but Cingular and other major wireless carries have most of what they want from regulators. The call was “the last wireless-only earnings call,” before all future results are rolled into a single AT&T, a spokesman said.

Satellite policy will be spurred another year of mergers in 2007, several industry sources said. But this year consolidation won’t be between fixed satellite services (FSS) giants, regulatory attorneys said: It will involve just about everybody else. Expect to see a merger push by XM and Sirius, a mobile satellite services (MSS) shakeout, and possibly an end-run by Liberty-controlled DirecTV and EchoStar, they said.

Action on universal service contributions reform doesn’t appear to be a front-burner issue at the FCC, judging from comments that FCC Chmn. Martin made in response to a question at a news conference Wed. The Commission will “have to see the results of changes last summer” to the contributions methodology before determining how quickly the agency should move on broader reform, he said. “We will have to see if [the USF] starts to creep up” again, he added. The FCC in June placed universal service obligations on VoIP providers and raised the wireless safe harbor -- both actions billed as interim measures until the FCC can institute broader reform of the way carriers contribute to the USF. Rising demand for USF subsidies has been taxing the fund and placing increasing pressure on the carriers that contribute to it.

BPL companies are girding to fight HR-462 by Rep. Ross (D-Ark.), which would order a new FCC study of interference to licensed radio operations by BPL. Similar language in a 2006 telecom bill passed the House, startling the industry. ARRL expects Ross to have new clout as a majority member of the House Telecom Subcommittee, said CEO Dave Sumner.

AT&T’s anticipated move of D.C. representation for its wireless and wireline operations into one office doesn’t mean it will march in lockstep with traditional Bell positions, sources said. AT&T announced Fri. the Cingular brand will start to disappear this week as it launches what is expected to be a massive rebranding campaign.

Lawmakers introduced several telecom measures Thurs. on the opening day of Congress -- some of which didn’t make it last Congress. Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Stevens (R-Alaska) introduced 5 measures, including a bill that would reform the Universal Service Fund (USF) program that Senate Minority Whip Lott (R-Miss.) is co-sponsoring. Stevens also is introducing a measure that would address FCC and FTC roles in policing pretexting -- impersonating someone else’s identity to illegally gain access to private phone records. A Judiciary bill was enacted last Congress.

“High-cost” rural telecom companies got 58.7% of $6.5 billion disbursed by the Universal Service Fund in 2005, the FCC said. High cost support totaled $3.8 billion, compared with about $3.5 billion in 2004 -- a rise the report traced to growth in support for competitive carriers from $0.3 billion in 2004 to $0.6 billion in 2005. The E-rate program for schools and libraries accounted for 28.6% of the USF, about $2 billion. Support for low-income consumers accounted for 12.4% or about $804 million, up from 2004’s $763 million. The rural health care program drew about 0.4% or $25 million, the report said. In a snapshot of telecom industry revenue, the report showed the USF funded by charges levied on $234 billion, up from 2004’s $233 billion. Bell company access lines declined from about 136 million in 2004 to 127 million in 2005.

CenturyTel said Mon. it agreed to acquire Madison River Communications in a deal valued at $830 million. Glen Post, CEO of CenturyTel, said on a conference call that regulatory issues, including uncertainty over USF and intercarrier compensation reform, figured in the company’s evaluation of the merger, but there’s little risk of Madison River’s revenue dropping because of rule changes. “Nothing major has changed in the regulatory arena,” Post said in response to an analyst’s question: “We still believe that we'll see progress in the next 18 months to eliminate some of the regulatory uncertainty.”