The FCC seeks comments on a waiver petition by Sage Telecom related to Universal Service Fund contributions. Sage doesn’t want the Universal Service Administrative Co. to base the USF annual contribution true-up for under- projections on the average of the two highest contribution factors, nor to figure the true-up for over-projections based on the average of the two lowest contribution factors, the FCC said. Comments are due Aug. 7, replies Aug. 21.
The Universal Service Fund for schools and libraries is under the lens of a congressional inquiry into programs prone to payment errors, according to GAO reports and congressional correspondence. The inquiry comes as the FCC must choose a contractor to run the “E-rate” program. The Universal Service Administrative Company, which recently solicited bids for a five-year contract to run the program, sent its recommendation to the FCC last week, a company spokesman told us.
Audio bridging service providers must contribute to the Universal Service Fund, the FCC said Monday, partially denying an InterCall appeal of a Universal Service Administrative Co. ruling. The commission rejected InterCall’s claim that audio bridging providers need not support the fund since they aren’t telecommunications service providers. “The audio bridging services InterCall provides are equivalent to teleconferencing services and are ’telecommunications'” under the 1996 Telecom Act, the FCC said. The FCC told USAC to enforce contribution by audio bridging companies starting with the Form 499-Q due Nov. 1. The requirement won’t apply retroactively, the FCC said, reversing USAC. “It was unclear to InterCall and the industry that stand-alone audio bridging providers have a direct USF contribution obligation,” the commission said. InterCall didn’t respond right away to a request for comment.
Changes to the universal service fund program need to be “fair and equitable for all consumers, no matter where they live,” the Independent Telephone and Telecommunication Alliance said in a letter to House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich. The group, which represents mid-size local exchange carriers working mainly in rural areas, praised Dingell’s comments calling the fund a “fundamental American value” at a House hearing (CD June 25 p1). Changes are needed in light of the advance of broadband, ITTA President Curt Stamp said in his letter. Congress is likely to get serious about USF reform soon, now that consumers are paying an 11.4 percent surcharge on their phone bills, said Free State Foundation President Randolph May, who testified at the hearing. Several members cited the 11.4 percent surcharge as an “impetus for getting on with the business of reform,” May said in a blog Friday. “Consumers have finally begun to pay attention,” he said.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has accomplished little on communications, ex-FCC chairman William Kennard said Wednesday in a debate hosted by the Media Access Project. Kennard spoke for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., while former NTIA official John Kneuer backed McCain. Obama has a significantly more detailed technology policy, despite a shorter resume, Kennard said. McCain is opposed to Washington “micromanagement” of the industry, and has been dealing with communications issues for years, Kneuer said. The industry has a “stark, stark choice,” Kennard said.
The universal service fund should be expanded to cover broadband services, members on both sides of the aisle said in a House Telecom Subcommittee hearing Tuesday. Members agreed the fund needs a substantial overhaul, a view backed by witnesses advocating help for low-income consumers in rural areas and urging further USF support for schools. Differences emerged over how to revamp the program, with Democrats supporting extension of the fund for broadband deployment, an idea not wholly endorsed by Republicans.
Democratic FCC commissioners said Monday that a study on broadband deployment in North Carolina illustrates the need for federal government involvement in a national broadband strategy. At a New America Foundation forum, Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein said such a plan should be based on a partnership between the public and private sectors.
LAS VEGAS -- FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein believes reforming universal service in 2008 is “worth trying,” aide Scott Bergmann said Tuesday in a Wiley Rein panel on USF at NXTCOMM. Officials from Sprint, Embarq, Cisco and Verizon agreed reform is needed, but disagreed on the details.
The proportion of long distance revenue carriers must contribute to the Universal Service Fund in the third quarter of 2008 increased to 11.4 percent from 11.3 percent in Q2, the FCC said Friday. To get the “contribution factor,” the agency divides projected carrier revenue by expected USF subsidies for the quarter. Of an estimated $1.95 billion in Q3 subsidies, about $1.17 billion is for the rural high-cost program, $528.8 million for the E-rate program, $202.6 million for low-income support and $49.6 million for the rural health-care program.
Global Conference Partners urged the FCC to reject “misplaced” Verizon arguments against InterCall’s appeal of a Universal Service Administrative Co. ruling. USAC ruled that InterCall, an audio bridging company, must contribute directly to USF by filing FCC Form 499s. InterCall asked the FCC to reverse the ruling, saying audio bridging providers need not pay in since they aren’t telecommunications service providers. In April, Verizon urged the FCC to deny InterCall’s petition, citing “long-established” commission precedent and need for “level playing field” policy. The commission never said a stand-alone conference service is a telecom service, Global Conference Partners said. And the Bell’s “policy contention is both disingenuous and mistaken,” it said. Verizon faces no “unfair regulatory disparity vis- ?-vis InterCall” because the FCC’s Computer II rules “explicitly treat facilities-based providers differently from non-facilities-based providers” (emphasis in original), it said.