Tate Urges Agreement on Intercarrier Comp Revamp but Mum on Her Views
Commissioner Deborah Tate praised the FCC for drafting a revamp for the universal service fund and intercarrier compensation. But speaking Friday at a Free State Foundation forum, the commissioner mostly kept mum on her opinions of the proposed order circulating on the eighth floor. Tate said she’s “inclined to support” a pilot USF Lifeline/LinkUp program proposed by Chairman Kevin Martin to get broadband to low-income households. She didn’t say anything about the draft’s other points except that she hopes for consensus.
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“There are many bold proposals in Chairman Martin’s order,” Tate said. She asked the telecom industry to reach agreement while there’s an opening, rather than concentrate on criticisms the way many recent filings have. “I'm really glad I've been out of town for the past few days,” said Tate, who was in Greece, “because I just haven’t been reading what any of you have been writing.” She wouldn’t take questions from reporters after the speech.
Most agree that intercarrier compensation should be overhauled, and most want to stop arbitrage schemes like phantom traffic and traffic pumping, Tate said. “I really believe that we can find some consensus. … I'm willing to work hard with my colleagues” and industry “to try to find a starting place toward the reform that we all seem to agree is necessary.”
The FCC must respond to a court order to deal with ISP- bound traffic compensation by Nov. 5, Tate noted. The commission should set a “roadmap” to uniform rates, she said. The current system includes a “complex array” of mechanisms based on implicit subsidies that have been allowed not only to grow “but also multiply,” Tate said. “Widely disparate” rates are no longer rational and can’t be sustained, she said. But the FCC also must consider the public interest and how government could cause new problems, she said. And it’s “important” that the FCC not preempt the states, which have “ground level” expertise, she said, citing her background as a utility commissioner in Tennessee.