FCC Should Step up on USF Reform, Rep. Terry Says
The FCC should “step up” and tackle universal service issues, since congressional efforts are stagnant, Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., said in a conference keynote Tuesday for the Western Telecommunications Alliance and the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies. Terry said he told FCC Chairman Kevin Martin over the phone that “it doesn’t look like we're going to be able to do USF this year.” Terry asked Martin if that means “the FCC perceives that they need to step up,” he said: “He said ‘Yes.'”
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Martin has said he would prefer Congress to take the lead with USF legislation, Terry said, “because then he knows he’s got the full support of Congress” when the agency writes rules. But the FCC concurs on phantom traffic and killing the USF identical support rule, which bases high-cost support for competitors on the incumbent’s costs, Terry said. The FCC should be able to rule on those “more granular” issues this year, he said: “When you only have limited time, work on the things that you already all agree on.”
Movement on telecom legislation isn’t likely until after the elections, Terry said. “When we can remove all of the distractions of this year, we will have a better opportunity to pass USF reform.” Terry and Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., have spent nearly four years on a universal service reform bill, Terry said. “You would think a bill like that, where we could get almost everyone but Verizon on board, could just fly through Congress.”
Terry partly blames House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey, D- Mass., he said. Markey “has been a little focused on global warming… and he has been completely agnostic on USF.” And “USF is just not on [the] radar screen” for many in the House, especially from urban districts, he said. A USF bill introduced recently by Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, has sent “a lot of signals out that our committee is divided,” he said.
Terry and Boucher “continue to press on” with USF reform, Terry said. They recently discussed their bill with House Commerce Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., he said. “Chairman Dingell at least knows of our bill and thinks… it’s probably the better bill” on USF. The duo are “still pressing for a hearing” in late June or July comparing and contrasting the Terry and Barton bills, he said. Differences on reverse auctions probably will stir the most discussion, he said.
Terry and Boucher eventually have to “sit down with Barton]” to compromise, Terry said: “But we're going to stay true to our principles.”