Any action the FCC takes on the Universal Service Fund “will be very cognizant of consumers and will be focused on looking at ways to break savings out of the system, so the impact on consumers can be lessened if at all possible,” Chairman Julius Genachowski told reporters after an FCC meeting Wednesday. A Wall Street Journal article that morning said the FCC was thinking about hiking consumer USF fees and imposing open-access policies. Also, Genachowski said a controversial Harvard University study on broadband should have equal weight with other information in the record.
A draft Universal Service Fund reform bill won general praise from both sides of the aisle at a House Communications Subcommittee hearing Tuesday. Nearly all applauded its plan to expand the fund to cover broadband, but there were differing opinions on how to pay for it. Rural lawmakers raised concerns about the proposal’s impact on support in hard-to-reach areas that could benefit from increased broadband deployment. Key Democrats support a separate bill that would create a “universal broadband fund.”
The FCC asked how long-pending overhauls for the Universal Service Fund (USF) and intercarrier compensation should fit into the agency’s National Broadband Plan. In its 19th public notice on the plan, released Friday, the commission sought comment on the USF’s size and contribution method, shifting USF money to broadband, the impact of any changes to revenue flows and the competitive landscape, and appropriate oversight of the high-cost fund. The agency also wants comment on establishing broadband Lifeline and Link-Up programs for low-income consumers, an idea discussed at a meeting last week (CD Nov 16 p1). Comments are due Dec. 7. The nine-page public notice shows the regulator recognizes that national broadband goals won’t be realized absent federal support, said Joshua Seidemann, regulatory affairs vice president of the Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance. Some of the FCC’s questions could be interpreted as leaning to one side, but they're generally balanced by other questions tilting the other way, he said.
The FCC is considering a recommendation that the Universal Service Fund (USF) Lifeline and Link-up programs be expanded to cover broadband in its National Broadband Plan due to be released in February, said Brian David, director of adoption and use of the Omnibus Broadband Initiative. David spoke Friday at a meeting at which the U.S. Broadband Coalition released a report on “Bridging the Divide.”
Draft universal service reform legislation announced Friday would cover broadband, expand the contribution base and cap high-cost support, said House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher D-Va., and Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb. This is the third round of legislation the two lawmakers have worked on, and comes after months of negotiations among industry and regional regulators. “The Universal Service Fund is broken,” said Boucher and Terry. Consumers will pay more than 14 percent of long-distance revenue into the fund next year, up from 12 percent in 2009, they said. A hearing on the draft is planned for Nov. 17.
The FCC laid the groundwork for an investigation into special access, issuing a public notice late Thursday “on an appropriate analytical framework” for reviewing issues raised in the commission’s long-pending proceeding. Chairman Julius Genachowski announced the notice last month in a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii (CD Oct 9 p1). Meanwhile, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and others renewed their attack on special access charges in comments at the commission as part of its broadband investigation. Comments were due Wednesday on National Broadband Plan Public Notice No. 11, on the impact of middle- mile access on broadband availability and deployment.
Northrop Grumman supports a petition from Stratos Government Services asking for clarification on universal service fund (USF) contribution exemptions, Northrop said in comments Friday. The company said a clarification on whether government telecommunications subcontractors are subject to USF contributions is important as it expects to bid on commercial satellite communications services contracts as a systems integrator. Failure to clarify the rules will distort the federal marketplace for satellite communications services and lead to higher costs for taxpayers, the company said.
There will be changes in the guidelines governing the broadband stimulus program, said NTIA Chief of Staff Thomas Power at an Federal Communications Bar Association seminar late Thursday. Other speakers urged more clarity and regulatory certainty.
The FCC should clarify the government services exemption from Universal Service Fund contributions, Globecomm Systems told the commission Thursday. The company responded to a public notice on a petition seeking a ruling or clarification on the exemption. The company believes the exemption, which says entities providing interstate telecommunications to government don’t have to contribute to USF, should apply to subcontractors too. Including subcontractors will help minimize costs of high-quality service to the government, which is the goal of the exception, Globecomm said.
The Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC) and the National Exchange Carriers’ Association (NECA) go beyond their authority in imposing fund contributions assessments on international-only carriers, Globecomm Systems said in a FCC filing Tuesday. The comments were in response to a petition from the Ad Hoc Coalition of International Telecommunications Companies asking for a ruling on the USAC’s authority. Because Globecomm provides mostly international services, its interstate revenue is “de minimis for purpose of USF contribution,” it said. Globecomm noted that some of its services go through the U.S. via satellite to interconnect with other telecom carriers. The company is also concerned about the prospect of new fees imposed by NECA, “a fund administrator operating with even less specific authority from the commission than USAC.”