Verizon Suggests Missouri PSC Phase Out State USF
Verizon supports a Missouri plan to suspend USF assessment, it said in comments Friday at the Public Service Commission in docket TO-2019-0346. State USF surplus is increasing due to steady revenue and declining costs, the carrier said. “Given the ever-dwindling…
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participation in the USF’s subsidy programs, and weighing the benefits of the fund against the financial burden it imposes on the ratepayers who pay for it, it may make sense for the Commission to consider phasing out the USF entirely.” Verizon resisted the PSC’s plan to reduce the fund balance by increasing state USF support for the Lifeline and disability programs (see 1905200061). That “could result in sudden, artificially-generated spikes in participation, or even potential fraud,” it said. “It would also eliminate a control factor needed to assess the trajectory of USF participation over time without introducing new variables. Greatly increased support levels could easily skew the data that Staff wishes to observe in order to evaluate future trends and their implications on the need to maintain a fund of any size.”