FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has circulated an order and two notices...
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has circulated an order and two notices of proposed rulemaking on Universal Service Fund reform, sources said. The items started circulating Oct. 26. The order, based on the Alltel merger order, would cap USF payments…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
at June 2007 levels, unless a carrier filed cost data showing its per-line costs are less than the capped funding level. Martin also circulated two rulemakings. One would provide for reverse auctions for USF payments, the other would eliminate the identical support rule. The items could be taken up at the Nov. 16 FCC agenda meeting. The notices could prove touchy because they sidestep the Joint Board on Universal Service in making long-term changes, sources said Thursday. Ray Baum, an Oregon regulator who serves as state chairman of the joint board, told a CTIA conference last week he worries that the joint board’s work may come to naught. “We might not be able to get anything out,” he said.