Stimulus Oversight Funding, FCC Action on Traffic Pumping Urged at NARUC Meeting

It’s important to the states’ interest in deploying broadband infrastructure to unserved and underserved areas and in promoting broadband adoption that NTIA and RUS provide sufficient ongoing oversight of the BTOP and BIP grant and loan awards, said Commissioner Betty Ann Kane of the D.C. Public Service Commission. The agencies should ensure that the broadband projects and programs are completed and implemented on time, on budget and deliver the promised economic and social benefits, she told NARUC’s telecom committee meeting Monday. The committee urged Congress to act before the current Continuing Budget Resolution (CR) expires Dec. 2, either through a supplement to any successor CRs or by enactment of the fiscal 2011 budget.

The FCC should move immediately in its traffic pumping proceeding (WC 07-135) to issue a declaratory ruling and to consider further efforts as recommended in the National Broadband Plan to limit or prohibit similar systems of intercarrier compensation arbitrage, said Commissioner Philip Jones of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. “This is a separate issue” that can be addressed without waiting for the finalization of comprehensive intercarrier compensation revamp, he said. USTelecom welcomes NARUC’s resolution, which the broadband plan recommended be addressed as an interim step in advance of comprehensive reform of the inter-carrier compensation system, CEO Walter McCormick said in a written statement. “We look forward to working with the commission on this process.”

RUS is focusing on its rural broadband loan program, said Jessica Zufolo, deputy administrator. Applications will open before the end of the year, she said. The agency has learned a great deal from its BIP program, which will be reflected in the loan program structure, she said. The program seeks to offer loans for funding on a technology-neutral basis for the costs of construction, improvement and acquisitions of facilities and equipment to offer broadband services to eligible rural communities, she said. The 2010 budget for telecom infrastructure loans is $690 million, she said.

There’s a consensus among regulators and the industry on the need for USF and intercarrier compensation (ICC) revamps, participants on an Intercarrier Compensation Reform panel said. An ICC overhaul would promote innovation and offer certainty and clarity as carriers move to IP networks, said Rebekah Goodheart, associate Wireline Bureau chief. NCTA supports a set-up under which states would set a single rate for termination of telecom traffic based on a new pricing system, said Steven Morris, the group’s vice president. The transition to a low, unified termination rate for all providers of voice services would be a substantial improvement, he said. USTelecom suggested moving intrastate access rates to interstate rates to combat costly arbitrage efforts, said Jonathan Banks, the group’s senior vice president. The current system isn’t built around broadband, creating complexity and uncertainty over revenue streams, he told us. The FCC could get something done on revamping ICC this year, Banks said. “They may not solve all the intercarrier compensation issues” but could start dealing with questions one by one, he said.

Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke welcomes the NARUC’s concern and support, he said in a keynote Monday. NTIA started the fiscal year without funding to oversee broadband stimulus projects, he said. The agency has to work closely with the White House and Congress to secure the money, Locke said. NTIA hopes to resolve the matter by year-end, he said. The agency will work to avoid any disruptions of the stimulus program, he said.