Oklahoma AG Urges State Commission to Press Brakes on Connections-Based USF

201900316 about the state USF administrator’s recommendation to adopt a connections-based method to stabilize the fund (see 2008110047). The plan might have merit but “lacks significant evidence in several important areas, including the outcome of such a transition in other states and the possible shift of burdens between customer types and locations,” the AG said. The proposal’s estimated funding requirement includes unsubstantiated expenses “derived from private conversations between the Administrator and representatives of telecommunications companies,” he said. “These projections include alleged expenses that are not known and measurable.” If the commission still decides to move ahead, the AG suggested "a blended methodology” where connections-based contribution would apply to only 20%-25% for the first year in a “gradual” transition. The legislature’s “oversight and involvement is necessary to adequately reform the OUSF,” he noted. A coalition including the OUSF administrator, Windstream, CenturyLink and many rural LECs urged OCC Administrative Law Judge Dustin Murer to recommend the connections-based mechanism as lawful, fair and equitable and in the public interest. CTIA disagreed, saying supporters failed to show that the connections method won't violate state or federal law, that it won't hurt poor or unemployed people, or that the state USF is unstable.