The FCC is expected to jump back into revamping the USF and intercarrier compensation regimes as early as summer, if as expected, Julius Genachowski is appointed and clears the Senate to become the chairman in the next few months, officials said. With the analog TV cutoff postponed, it’s unclear what the commission will deal with at its meetings from March to May.

FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, the FCC’s lone Republican, weighed in Tuesday with additional recommendations for FCC reform, starting with a “thorough operational, financial and ethics audit” of the agency. McDowell acknowledged, as interim Chairman Michael Copps and Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein did Monday, the need for basic change now that former Chairman Kevin Martin has left the commission.

Largely reiterating past arguments, telecom interests fought over when and how to revamp the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation. In comments last week, carriers, states and others dissected three FCC overhaul plans, known as Appendices A, B and C. Appendix A is FCC Chairman Kevin Martin’s Oct. 14 revamp plan, B is a proposal addressing USF only, and C a revised Martin plan incorporating changes sought by the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies and other groups. Earlier this month, Martin said a revamp this year is unlikely (CD Nov 19 p2). But other commissioners have said they want to vote on an order at the December meeting. (See separate story on the FCC agenda in this issue.)

Adoption of numbers-based system as part of Universal Service Fund reform would have a negative effect on “important emergency communications services” if the fee is imposed on vehicle telematics services, such as OnStar or ATX, APCO and the National Emergency Number Association warned the FCC. Telematics companies were also at the FCC for recent meetings to ask the FCC not to impose the fee on their lines, a step proposed in all three rulemakings on USF reform now before commissioners.

Four members of the FCC pledged to work together on broad intercarrier compensation and Universal Service Fund reform, for a vote at the Dec. 18 FCC meeting. The four cited growing consensus on several issues teed up for decision, in a statement they all signed. But FCC Chairman Kevin Martin questioned whether his colleagues will really be ready to reach a decision in December. The letter was released just before midnight Wednesday, as the FCC responded to a writ of mandamus by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit addressing the so-called ISP remand (CD Nov 6 p1).

Failing to win colleagues’ support, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin deleted an overhaul of the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation from Tuesday’s meeting agenda. The order remains on circulation, but the agency will vote on no items related to USF or intercarrier compensation at the meeting, an FCC spokesman said. In a joint statement, the other four commissioners laid the blame on the chairman.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin’s push to act on a complex Nov. 4 agenda has fueled intense lobbying, letter writing, phone calls and meetings with advisors, according to interviews with analysts, lobbyists and Hill staffers. The activity level, common in administrations whose ends are near, is heightened by high-profile issues affecting a wide array of players. The “order of magnitude” is big in a compressed time period, said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Blair Levin.

Two trade association for small rural carriers said they back the FCC’s overhaul plan for the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation, after FCC Chairman Kevin Martin agreed to several concessions for rate-of-return carriers. The Western Telecommunications Alliance and the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies approved the plan after “numerous direct conversations” with Martin, including a conference call Tuesday night ending around 7:45 p.m., directly before the start of sunshine. The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association called the endorsement “very risky and dangerous.”

With a lobbying ban looming, telecom interests are making feverish last-minute pitches to sway commissioners on possible overhauls for the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation. Unless the FCC says otherwise, lobbying on the issue ends sometime Tuesday, with release of the commission’s sunshine notice for the Nov. 4 meeting. Verizon recently joined AT&T and Qwest in endorsing comprehensive reform.

Broadcasters’ fears of more regulations on how to serve their communities (CD Sept 4 p4) won’t be realized in 2008, if comments by two FCC members -- one supporting new rules, the other opposing -- are a guide. Both Commissioner Michael Copps, long an advocate of localism rules, and Commissioner Robert McDowell, a foe of such rules, said Monday in separate interviews that the FCC is running out of time to address the issue this year. But Copps still wants comprehensive rule reform.