FCC Ready to Move Forward on Next Phase of USF Reform, McDowell Says
The FCC will take on the contribution side of Universal Service Fund reform early next year, with an order likely by mid-year, FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell predicted Monday during a question and answer session at an Federal Communications Bar Association lunch. McDowell said he has a commitment from Chairman Julius Genachowski to move forward quickly following the commission’s approval last month of an order reforming the distribution side of the USF (CD Oct 28 p1). “The chairman and I have talked,” he said. “Certainly, we have to do something."
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"I have a commitment from the chairman that it will be done as soon as possible in 2012,” McDowell told us later. “That’s pretty strong. I look forward to working with him to meet that deadline.” McDowell said industry did a significant amount of work on contribution issues in 2008, before the commission’s failed attempt at USF reform.
An order could be built around a move to a numbers-based system. “I don’t think we need to reinvent the wheel,” McDowell said in an interview. “I don’t think it’s as complicated as what we just did.” Action is critical, he said, citing one study which predicted that the USF contribution factor could soar to 17 percent. “The pool is shrinking,” he said. “The tax is increasing because your tax base, essentially, is shrinking, and that’s not sustainable."
Work on opening the TV white spaces for unlicensed use is currently stalled, as Congress works through incentive auction legislation, said McDowell, a white-spaces proponent. “That has all been put on ice,” he said. “In the meantime, other countries are waking up to the unlicensed use of white spaces.” He noted that in September, the U.K. Office of Communications ruled that white space devices will be allowed to access TV spectrum provided there’s no harmful interference with existing services.
That opening the white spaces has been slowed by work on spectrum legislation is “understandable,” McDowell said in the interview. “As soon as we have closure on that, the commission needs to press forward and wrap up the work once and for all so that we can make this a reality for consumers. It has been discussed at the FCC for almost a decade, since 2002. It’s time to finally allow consumers to enjoy the benefits of unlicensed use of white spaces."
McDowell said it makes sense for Congress to take on a rewrite of the Telecom Act, but warned comprehensive legislation could take many years to complete. “These things take a very long time,” he said. “The more comprehensive legislation becomes, the more edges to slow it down and cause friction,” he said. Current regulations don’t make sense for consumers, he added, citing as an example someone watching video on a portable device. “If it’s a traditional over-the-air TV, it’s got one set of regulations,” he said. “If it’s on a tablet, it’s got a lighter set of regulations. If it’s got a wire attached to it … that’s another set of regulations.”