Three automobile makers urged the FCC to reject a numbers-based s...
Three automobile makers urged the FCC to reject a numbers-based system for Universal Service Fund contributions. In comments last week on three FCC proposals to revamp the fund (CD Dec 1 p2), Volvo, Toyota and General Motors subsidiary OnStar…
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said separately that the FCC’s plan could hurt vehicle telematics companies and by extension public safety. Earlier last week, APCO and the National Emergency Number Association also warned the FCC about the issue (CD Nov 28 p1). The FCC proposals “ignore the special circumstances of telematics companies, assess contributions far greater than the telecommunications revenues associated with the service, and mistakenly treat telematics companies as telecommunications providers rather than end users,” OnStar said. Toyota agreed, “The drastic cost increases that would flow from the proposals … would threaten the very existence of life-saving telematics services.” OnStar suggested that the FCC instead “assess USF contributions on services that wireless carriers provide to telematics companies either on a per-minute of use basis, as the draft orders appropriately propose for prepaid wireless services, or based on a percentage of revenues.”