FCC Chairman Kevin Martin Tuesday eliminated any remaining indust...
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin Tuesday eliminated any remaining industry hope that the commission will act in his remaining weeks as chairman on even limited changes to intercarrier compensation or universal service rules. Martin said during a call with reporters…
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that he expects no action on either in coming weeks. “This is something I had encouraged all the commissioners to try to act on,” he said. “I had put forth several different proposals. I had worked with the industry to try to form some kind of consensus. But at bottom these issues are controversial and you've got to be willing to make hard decisions. … I don’t believe the other commissioners are actually prepared for it.” Martin said other commissioners “keep claiming they're very close to a consensus proposal” that industry would find acceptable “but nothing ever comes forth.” Martin conceded that the FCC could face sanctions from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unless it provides an additional response to that court on the ISP remand beyond its interim order released last month (CD Dec 17 p2). “I'm concerned about that,” he said. “But I'm even more concerned with the impact that this is having on the industry, the commission’s unwillingness to try to act and reform its rules. … This is something that has been in front of the commission for a long time and I think it is time for us to end up grappling with it.” Martin said some companies are “taking advantage of the uncertainty” and “using it for regulatory arbitrage,” a situation he said the FCC must address.