Acting on a suggestion by Qwest, Wyoming’s Public Service Commiss...

create a way for eligible telecommunications carriers to seek state permission to divert federal Universal Service Fund support to specific building projects or equipment upgrades, the commission said. The same change would permit the state to subsidize authorized projects or upgrades by increasing the state USF assessment. Any diversions would need commission approval. Qwest said the change will encourage efforts to improve service, including its own proposed spending to assess service quality in the Lander-Riverton Wind River Indian Reservation area, the commission said. The proposed change would address a situation apparently particular to Wyoming, said Qwest President for Wyoming Mike Ceballos. In other states federal USF funds cover high-cost construction, but Wyoming requires ETCs like Qwest to use such funds as credits on customer bills, he said. Qwest has as many rural customers as independent phone companies in the state do, but independents can use federal USF funds to cover their costs, he noted. “I believe we are unique in Wyoming in applying federal USF money to bill credits,” Ceballos said. “The rule change would allow the Commission to hear proposals to allocate some of that federal money to construction and upgrades.” At the reservation, on which Qwest is the predominant carrier, the company plans to study how best to invest in high-cost areas. Only Alaska is less dense in population than Wyoming, Ceballos noted. His state averages four customers per square mile compared with Alaska’s 3.7, and some Wyoming locales, like the town of Lusk, have one customer per square mile, he said. The commission plans a public hearing on the proposed amendments (Docket Number 90000-102-XO-08) at 9 a.m. May 27 at its headquarters, 2515 Warren Ave., Suite 300, Cheyenne, Wyo. May 18 is the deadline for written comments -- http://psc.state.wy.us under “Hot Topics.”