The growth of the Universal Service Fund (USF) could be stemmed b...
The growth of the Universal Service Fund (USF) could be stemmed by creating a separate sub-fund for wireless carriers, based on their own costs, not rural ILECs'costs, the Independent Telephone & Telecom Alliance (ITTA) told the FCC. Competitive eligible…
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telecom carriers (CETCs), which mainly are wireless, are “key drivers” of huge USF growth since 2001, the ITTA told agency staff in a March 22 ex parte meeting. USF outlays to wireless competitors were about $1 million in 2000 but more than $1 billion in 2006, ITTA said in materials given FCC staff. CETC funding is pegged at $1.28 billion this year and projected to reach nearly $2 billion in 2008, said ITTA, which represents midsized rural carriers. Subsidies to wireline carriers were flat 2000-2006 at about $2 billion, plus $1 billion to offset access charge reductions, ITTA said in a chart. As an option to a separate wireless universal service fund, ITTA proposed requiring wireless companies to assume “carrier of last resort” obligations if they kept getting universal service support based on ILEC costs and ILEC study areas. ITTA told the FCC the wireline network is the best vehicle for expanding broadband service to rural areas, with other service providers relying on it. So it’s important to have a “stable and predictable” USF to support ILEC broadband deployment, the association said.