Neb. no longer may be shut out of the Universal Service Fund’s no...

ILECs delivering service to rural areas. Late last month, the FCC made slight changes in the distribution formula that resulted in more states’ getting funding (CD Dec 30 p6). The nonrural fund, which distributes $235 million to ILECs serving rural customers, has been criticized on Capitol Hill because only 8 states had been getting funding under the FCC’s statewide formula. The recent changes will increase that number to 10, as Neb. and S.D. will get money. Several of the 8 states get more funding under the new system, with Miss. adding $11 million to total $131.2 million and Ky. rising more than $3 million to $23.9 million. W.Va. lost $6 million and Me. lost $3.5 million under the new formula. Neb. will get about $8 million. “I'm encouraged that the FCC found a way to help Nebraska,” Terry said, but “the system is still horribly broken. This will not deter me from moving forward with my legislation to fix the USF system for other rural states. We've still got a long way to go to fix this problem.” Terry said the system was “ridiculous, arbitrary.” He has introduced a bill (HR-1582) that would change the FCC’s system to one that evaluated costs based on wire centers rather than statewide averages, which Terry said would distribute the funds more evenly. The bill is stalled as House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.) has said he prefers a comprehensive solution to fixing USF instead of a piecemeal approach. The bill has 71 co-sponsors. Sen. Smith (R-Ore.) also has introduced a similar bill (S-1380), which has 25 co-sponsors, including Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.)