FCC voted at agenda meeting Thurs. to seek comments on changing w...

carriers provide to customers rather than on their interstate revenue, which was current practice. FCC Common Carrier Bureau Chief Dorothy Attwood said further notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) stemmed in part from proposal by coalition of long distance carriers and large business customers (CD Nov 20 p1). Agency said further NPRM offered opportunity to “further develop” comments made last year in response to initial NPRM on how current assessment and recovery of USF contributions should be modified as marketplace evolves. Under connection-based plan, LECs, long distance companies and wireless providers would contribute $1 per month for each connection to public network for residential users. Paging companies would contribute 25 cents per connection. Business connection assessments would be based on maximum available capacity, or bandwidth, of connection. NPRM also seeks comment on whether carriers that choose to recover their USF contributions through line items do so in uniform manner and don’t recover amounts in excess of their actual USF contributions. Agency adopted order that streamlines current contribution system. Attwood told reporters later that current system created some lack of specificity and agency would ask whether there was better way to handle those problems. For example, wireless carriers pay into USF based on 15% of their revenues under “assumption” that they handle that much interstate traffic. However, new calling plans indicate percentage is probably much higher, she said. She emphasized, however, that USF item makes no conclusions. USTA called action “encouraging.”