Regulators Still Waiting for USF, Intercarrier Comp Revamp
FCC officials voiced frustration over new delays in the commission’s overhauls of the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation. At PLI’s annual telecom conference Thursday, Wireline Bureau Chief Dana Shaffer, Commissioner Robert McDowell and Scott Deutchman, an aide to Commissioner Michael Copps, wouldn’t predict when the FCC would finally act. McDowell and Deutchman said they were disappointed no vote would happen at the Dec. 18 FCC meeting. Meanwhile, Hill officials said some in Congress are looking to move on a USF revamp, but the prospects are unclear.
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“One thing is clear: Nothing’s going to happen on Dec. 18,” Shaffer said. “And whether the commission will act on the chairman’s proposal in January or whether other proposals will surface on the eighth floor, I can’t tell you. Some will argue that [not acting in November] was a missed opportunity, an incredible [missed] opportunity. Some others will insist something can and will be done in the very near future.” But “if history is our guide, the marketplace will adjust to regulatory action or inaction, and transition will take place, whether in a measured, evolutionary way, or in a revolutionary way,” she said.
“We had growing a growing amount of consensus by Nov. 4” in favor of an item to revamp USF set for the Dec. 18 meeting, McDowell told reporters. “I have been pleasantly surprised by how well the four offices have worked together on this issue,” he said, referring to the commissioners besides Chairman Kevin Martin. Though “we all remain committed to trying to get something done as expeditiously as possible,” McDowell said, it was a jolt when Martin announced Tuesday that he was extending the deadline for reply comments on USF overhaul proposals (CD Dec 3 p6), effectively excluding the item from the Dec. 18 meeting. “It is the chairman’s prerogative to do that, but given the unusual circumstances of this particular proceeding, it would have been nice to have a heads up, at least,” McDowell said.
Copps was “disappointed” no vote will be taken Dec. 18, Deutchman said. “We thought we were on a glide path that gave us an opportunity to get there on the 18th.” Copps’ office still believes that moving on USF and intercarrier compensation reform is important, he said. “Whether it will be January or sometime out in the future, we will return to it. We're going to have to. I'm just not sure when that’s going to be.”
Seeking comment on Martin’s overhaul proposals “has been constructive,” Deutchman said. “It has educated folks [at the FCC] more than they have been since the time that I have been there,” exposing them to industry concerns in detail, he said. That doesn’t make it easier for the FCC to determine the right action to take, he said. “At the 30,000 foot level, I think there’s probably a tremendous amount of agreement in the room. It’s when you get down to such a granular level … it becomes a lot more complicated.”
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, long a supporter of trimming spending in the universal-service program, is eager to see Congress take up the issue, aide David Cavicke said. Barton, the Commerce Committee’s ranking member, has put forward his own legislation (HR-6356) limiting support to voice providers operating in high-cost areas, to ensure that low-income households get service. “Barton is anxious to work on bipartisan basis” with other Members on USF revamp ideas, Cavicke said. “Universal service as currently organized and funded is not sustainable.” The Senate Commerce Committee’s presumed incoming Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., also will spend “a lot of time” on USF, said his aide, James Reid.
But reaching agreement on legislation won’t be easy, said Christine Kurth, minority staff director for Senate Commerce Committee. Legislative overhaul proposals have been debated for a decade or so, but the issue is so complex it’s difficult to get consensus among members. This could be the time things get worked out, she added.
Political sentiment on USF is difficult to gauge in the House, said Gregg Rothschild, aide to Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., who will yield the gavel to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., in the next Congress. “Were the House to start a debate, I couldn’t tell you where the votes are or where the coalitions are,” Rothschild said. Committee leaders will need to work on it on a bipartisan basis, and an effort could come in the next Congress, he said. “The focus needs to get back to consumers and away from regulated industries,” he said.