Judging by the Universal Service Fund/intercarrier compensation order, originating access...

responded to a petition for clarification by Windstream and Frontier, which argued that originating charges had not been touched by the order (CD Feb 14 p13). “We do not dispute these carriers’ expectation leading up to the USF-ICC Transformation Order that potential reductions in originating access charges may be addressed but at a later date,” wrote Verizon Vice President Maggie McCready. Nonetheless, reading the order so that PSTN-VoIP traffic is subject to interstate origination rates “strikes the right balance and is consistent with the Commission’s objectives to avoid applying the legacy access charge regime to IP traffic, and also to treat all IP traffic in a symmetrical manner,” she said. Were the commission to “reverse course now” it would “perversely” disincent the migration of customers to IP platforms, “in order for carriers to continue charging higher intrastate originating access rates,” she said. Comcast executives told Wireline Bureau officials Thursday that the order “plainly mandates that the default rates applicable to such originating toll traffic are the originating carrier’s interstate access rates” (http://xrl.us/bmw8rn). Comcast urged the commission “not to reconsider” these provisions, even though the impact on Comcast “will amount to several million dollars annually.” Also last week, Windstream met with Wireline Bureau officials to discuss estimated reductions in annual originating access revenue it would see if the intrastate origination fees were “flash cut” to interstate levels, according to an ex parte filing (http://xrl.us/bmw8jh). It’s impossible to determine the exact impact of proposed rate reductions, “because intrastate originating access for PSTN-VoIP traffic has never been in dispute and incumbent LECs have no visibility into what percentage of traffic interexchange carriers will claim is PSTN-VoIP traffic,” the letter said. Because many of its estimated revenue reductions relate to payments to competitive LEC affiliates, a recovery mechanism permitting incumbent LECs to recover lost revenues would be “insufficient,” Windstream said.