Rural Caucus Wants USF in Telecom Rewrite
A bipartisan coalition of rural lawmakers said the House should take the first crack at addressing problems with the Universal Service Fund (USF) in telecom rewrite legislation. The proposal came Tues. at a press conference announcing 9 principles to be included in a bill. Sixty members of the Rural Caucus sent a letter to House Commerce Committee Chmn. Barton (R-Tex.) and Ranking Member Dingell (D-Mich.), outlining the principles, which include extending the base of contributors to USF to include “all providers of 2-way communications regardless of technology used to ensure competitive neutrality.”
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The group’s aggressive stance on USF, while not surprising, contrasts with general sentiment among lawmakers and industry lobbyists that USF reform should be left up to the Senate, where Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens would take up the issue. “Would I leave it up to the Senate? Hell no. The House should have its imprint,” said House Rural Caucus Chmn. Peterson (R-Pa.). “We have to make sure it’s funded,” he said, adding that he thinks it’s “doable.” But he cautioned that the rewrite should be done “right” this time to create an environment where broadband can be deployed in rural areas.
“We will take the first crack at the bill,” said Rep. Stupak (D-Mich.), a House Commerce Committee member. “We have 140 members who believe this is an important issue,” he said. While reluctant to speak on behalf of Barton, Stupak said that the chairman “recognizes the significance of the issue” and is likely to back an effort to include it in the telecom rewrite.
The caucus letter with its draft principles marks the latest phase of an effort the group began in Feb. to put rural concerns about telecom on the front burner in Congress, said Rep. Gutknecht (R-Minn.). USF is by far the toughest barrier impeding rural broadband deployment, he said. While not advocating a “specific formula” for solving USF funding difficulties, he said it is an “extremely bi-partisan issue” with a potential for building consensus.
Among principles outlined in the letter, the caucus urges that USF remain industry-funded rather than funded through taxes and that USF not be subject to the Anti- Deficiency Act. The caucus also suggests USF support distributed to a carrier be based on actual cost of service to ensure accountability and competitive neutrality. On other subjects, the caucus proposes 2 principles for intercarrier compensation: carriers must be compensated for all traffic over their networks and carriers must identify their traffic to discourage arbitrage and phantom traffic. In addition, all providers still should have to let all other providers interconnect with their networks, regardless of technology used.
USTelecom hailed the effort, pledging its support and acknowledging the knottiness of dealing with USF. “We look forward to continuing to work with rural members to speed the deployment of broadband to rural communities while ensuring that consumer phone bills remain affordable,” said USTelecom Pres. Walter McCormick. The Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance (ITTA), NTCA, OPASTCO and the Western Telecommunications Alliance (WTA) also praised the effort. CTIA also said it likes the caucus effort, especially the proposal to fund USF by collecting from all segments of the communications industry.