The FCC will take on the contribution side of Universal Service Fund reform early next year, with an order likely by mid-year, FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell predicted Monday during a question and answer session at an Federal Communications Bar Association lunch. McDowell said he has a commitment from Chairman Julius Genachowski to move forward quickly following the commission’s approval last month of an order reforming the distribution side of the USF (CD Oct 28 p1). “The chairman and I have talked,” he said. “Certainly, we have to do something."
The Rural Cellular Association panned the FCC universal service overhaul (CD Nov 19 Bulletin). “I appreciate the FCC’s work to modernize USF, but unfortunately the Order confirms our previous concerns that wireless services are significantly underfunded,” RCA President Steve Berry said. “Adequately funding wireless services would have encouraged competitive carriers to participate -- needless to say, this was a missed opportunity for the FCC to promote industry competition and the build-out of advanced high-speed mobile services."
Paul Clanon, executive director of the California Public Utilities Commission, circulated a memo ordering all interconnected VoIP providers (both nomadic and fixed) to register with the commission within 45 days. California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) recently signed Public Utilities Code Section 285, which mandates that the CPUC require interconnected VoIP providers to collect and remit surcharges in support of the state USF. The new law took effect Oct. 9. The California Competitive Telephone Companies (CALTEL) is seeking clarification of the memo, according to a letter by its executive director Sarah DeYoung. The group had questioned the effectiveness and efficiency of certificated carriers registering with the CPUC. Many CALTEL members offer both VoIP and circuit-switched services and they should have the ability to remit fees for all of the services they offer via a single transaction, CALTEL said. The Utility Reform Network had similar concerns, said staff attorney Christine Mailloux.
Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., has recurring concerns about whether the FCC’s Universal Service Fund order, approved last month, does enough to spur the growth of wireless (CD Oct 28 p1), the vice chairman of the House Communications Subcommittee said Wednesday at a National Journal conference on the future of technology. Spectrum and regulatory reform largely dominated the discussions.
The GOP overcame Democratic opposition to FCC process reform proposals, approving two bills Wednesday in the House Communications Subcommittee. On a party line vote, the subcommittee voted 14-9 on HR-3309, which requires rulemaking shot clocks, cost-benefit analyses and a variety of other process changes. However, Democrats supported HR-3310, a bill that would consolidate many FCC reports and eliminate others. The subcommittee approved that bill by voice vote but said more work needs to be done before the next markup in the full committee.
ST. LOUIS -- While some panelists at NARUC’s annual meeting see a continuing state role in a broadband world, others urged regulators to be mindful of market changes that have resulted in loss of revenue. And while some said they can live with the FCC’s Universal Service Fund order, others find it unacceptable.
The FCC “put the cart before the horse” when it ordered that relinquished Universal Service Fund cash shouldn’t be redistributed among a state’s eligible telecom carriers, telecom lawyer Todd Daubert told an appellate panel Tuesday. That January order paved the way for last month’s universal service order (CD Jan 4 p2), but Daubert,representing the Rural Cellular Association and the Universal Service for America Coalition before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, said the FCC exceeded the “plain language” of Section 254(d) of the Telecom Act.
ST. LOUIS -- The FCC is careful not to disturb states’ role as it revamps the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation system, said Wireline Bureau officials at NARUC’s annual meeting Tuesday. They didn’t address the timing of the order’s release, though several state officials expect it to be out before Thanksgiving.
ST. LOUIS -- Instead of taking the FCC to court, state regulators and consumer advocates should focus on working together with the FCC on implementing the Universal Service Fund revamp, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said at NARUC’s annual meeting Tuesday. The FCC, which took many of the Federal/State USF Joint Board’s recommendations as it works to finalize the order, seeks to strengthen the federal/state partnership going forward, he said. Meanwhile, the outgoing commissioner said he plans to continue to advocate for media reform even after leaving the FCC.
ST. LOUIS -- State members of the USF Federal/State Joint Board, the Federal/State Jurisdictional Separation Joint Board and the Federal/State Joint Conference on Advanced Services were schedule to meet with the FCC officials attending the NARUC meeting in here late Monday, after our deadline, John Burke, chair of the NARUC telecom committee told us. The FCC attendees, including Commissioners Michael Copps, Mignon Clyburn, Wireline Bureau Chief Sharon Gillett and Deputy Bureau Chief Carol Mattey, were expected to talk about the timing of the release of the full universal service fund/intercarrier compensation order and an overview of what is in the order, Burke said.