The FCC should comply with a 2005 remand by the U.S. Court of App...
The FCC should comply with a 2005 remand by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and change universal service high-cost support rules governing non-rural incumbent local exchange carriers, Qwest said Monday in an ex parte letter…
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sent to commissioners and the Wireline Bureau. Three years ago, the appeals court said FCC USF high-cost support rules for Qwest and other non-rural incumbent local exchange carriers were unlawful. Non-rural ILECs get “little, if any,” federal high-cost assistance, Qwest said. “Despite the rural nature of much of the 14 western states it serves, Qwest received only about $27 million in federal high-cost assistance in 2007,” with no money for Iowa and North Dakota, it said. Meanwhile, wireless carriers got “more than four times that amount… just in Mississippi -- serving areas where consumers already have a wireline alternative,” it said. The FCC should replace its non-rural ILEC support mechanism with one targeting support to the highest-cost wire center, it said. That would raise non-rural support about $1.2 billion, it said. If the FCC decides that’s too much, it could give wire-based support only to “smaller non-rural ILECs,” Qwest said. “Namely, those other than AT&T and Verizon.”