Sen. Burns (R-Mont.) is drafting a bill to revamp the universal service fund (USF), expanding the contribution base and redistributing funding, Senate sources said. Sens. Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) and Snowe (R-Me.) are working with Burns on the bill, expected to be introduced early in Sept., Senate sources said. It’s likely to differ from the Smith-Dorgan bill (CD Aug 2 p1), which would apply USF contributions to all 2-way voice services and establish a separate fund for broadband deployment in rural areas.
The FCC said it plans to fine 2 carriers $1.5 million for not paying Universal Service Fund (USF) contributions and regulatory fees. The agency issued a Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL) proposing a $1.33 million fine against OCMC Inc. for not making USF contributions and a fine of $280,000 against Telecom Management Inc. (TMI) for not paying USF contributions or regulatory fees. The FCC action shows “a no tolerance policy” on carriers that fail to make such payments, the FCC said. OCMC is an operator service provider, interexchange carrier and toll reseller. It told the Commission it hadn’t paid because it was in a billing dispute with the Universal Service Administrative Co., which handles collection of USF contributions. But the FCC said “the existence of this billing dispute does not excuse OCMC’s violations” because carriers can’t “engage in self-help” by not paying fees during a billing dispute. TMI sells long distance, toll-free service and phone cards by reselling service purchased from Global Crossing and hadn’t registered as a reseller. Registration is necessary to be subject to the FCC’s fee programs. The companies have 30 days to pay the fines or file a written statement seeking a reduction or cancellation.
Verizon this year has hired 5 firms to lobby Congress, according to the latest filings with the Secy. of the Senate reflecting a flurry of activity over DTV and telecom legislation. Verizon hired the lobbyists on issues such as telecom and broadband, spectrum allocation and regulatory parity in broadband deployment, the documents show. “As issues change you want to give yourself flexibility to be effective,” said a Verizon spokesman.
The FCC voted at its open meeting Fri. to reduce regulation of wireline Internet access service by reclassifying it as an “information service,” in line with the FCC’s treatment of cable modem service. The U.S. Supreme Court in June upheld the agency’s cable modem classification in the Brand X case, triggering action on the wireline companion piece which had been placed on hold during the litigation. DSL is the most common wireline Internet access service.
As FCC staff and commissioners continued negotiating over terms of the proposed wireline broadband order Thurs., lobbyists continued blitzing commissioners’ offices to make sure their views were reflected in the talks. At our deadline it still wasn’t known if the agency would get enough agreement on contested issues to place the broadband item on today’s (Fri.’s) agenda. The FCC had delayed its Thurs. meeting until today, reportedly to give it more time to reach consensus. The item would generally lessen regulation of wireline-provided broadband service by reclassifying it as an information service. However, judging from the continual discussions at the agency, there appeared to be many nuances within that general description of the proposed order.
Analysis of Sen. Ensign’s (R-Nev.) telecom bill (CD July 28 p1) is yielding a common refrain: It’s a good start, but the bill won’t pass as is because of controversial provisions affecting cable, CLECs and municipalities, according to interviews with analysts and lobbyists. Furthermore, Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) is planning his own telecom bill, which he has said he'll unveil in the fall after dealing with DTV legislation. Senate sources said Stevens may gauge the response to the Ensign bill as he drafts his own legislation. Others are pessimistic that there will be time to write an omnibus bill.
If the FCC moves to a numbers-based universal service contributions policy, it should be careful how it counts a carrier’s numbers, members of the Intercarrier Compensation Forum (ICF) told Wireline Bureau staff in a July 28 ex parte meeting. ICF members said the assessment for contributions purposes shouldn’t be based on all of the “assigned numbers” listed in the Numbering Resource Utilization/Forecast (NRUF) reports filed by carriers. “Assigned” numbers in NRUF reports include not only a carrier’s own working telephone numbers but also numbers ported to other carriers or shared through UNE-P and resale, the ICF said in a July 29 notice outlining the meeting. “Use of NRUF assigned numbers for USF contribution assessment would have the affect of inflating carrier contributions,” ICF said. Representatives of AT&T, SBC, General Communications Inc. and Level 3 attended the meeting.
Universal service fund (USF) contributions would be applied to all 2-way voice services under a bill introduced late Fri., just before the summer congressional recess. Sponsored by Sens. Smith (R-Ore.), Dorgan (D- N.D.) and Pryor (D-Ark.) , the bill broadens the base of contributors and establishes a separate fund capped at $500 million a year to encourage broadband deployment in rural, “unserved” U.S. areas.
Sen. Ensign (R-Nev.) Wed. introduced a broad telecom update bill that would erase local video franchise requirements, let municipalities invest in broadband networks via competitive bid and set consumer protection standards for carrier service. The bill did not address universal service fund (USF) reform, an issue Ensign said Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) and co- chairman Inouye (D-Hawaii) want to handle separately. A Committee aide confirmed that Stevens plans to address USF this year, separately or in a larger telecom bill.
AUSTIN, Tex. -- NARUC adopted resolutions Wed. that call for careful federal review of pending telecom mega- mergers, and suggest a general extension or carrier- specific waivers of a year-end FCC deadline for full implementation of handset-based wireless E-911. However, because of a technicality they voted against a proposal that would have urged states and the FCC to consider naked DSL as a pro-competition tool when reviewing mergers or generally making regulations. The measures, approved by NARUC committees earlier this week, were approved by NARUC’s board Wed. as official NARUC policy.