A GOP wave claimed longtime telecom heavyweight Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., and other Democrats in rural states, as Republicans seized control of the House Tuesday. The Republicans also won seats in the Senate, but the Democrats maintained power there. The GOP gain is seen as bad news for net neutrality supporters, while the loss of House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Boucher is a setback for rural telcos who supported his efforts to overhaul the Universal Service Fund.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski faces tough oversight from the new Congress starting in January, after Republicans picked up as many as 70 seats in the House Tuesday. That was more than the 55-seat swing that gave Republicans control of the House in 1994. But it’s unclear whether Genachowski will face the kind of Commerce Committee investigation Kevin Martin faced when Republicans lost control of the House four years ago (CD Sept 14 p1). The Republican takeover of the House also could have a long-lasting effect on FCC policy, particularly Genachowski proposals on net neutrality and broadband reclassification. Genachowski was an adviser to former Chairman Reed Hundt when Democrats lost control of both the House and Senate in 1994.
With election uncertainty overhanging the FCC and every other institution in Washington, there have been fewer ex parte meetings at the agency in the past month than what has become the norm, a review of filings showed. Eighth-floor officials confirmed this trend.
Small carriers need money to build out their networks and the Corr Wireless order was wrong to not redirect surrendered funds back to other competitive eligible telecommunications carriers (CD Sept 7 p1), the Rural Telecommunications Group said in a filing at the FCC. In the order and notice of proposed rulemaking, the FCC declined to redistribute reclaimed high-cost support to other CETCs and proposed amending its Interim Cap Rule so that a state’s interim cap would be adjusted if a CETC relinquishes funds, as Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel did through merger commitments. In September, the commission ruled that the Universal Service Administrative Co. can’t modify the interim cap by deducting Verizon’s and Sprint’s contributions, but ruled that other eligible telecommunications carriers aren’t entitled to divvy up the left-over cash. The commission has since opened up to comments on how to handle surrendered USF funds (CD Sept 7 p6). “Existing wireless CETCs will use additional support to deploy advanced networks, cover unserved areas, and make available mobile broadband, ensuring that consumers in all regions of the nation have access to affordable services,” RTG said. “The Commission has recently acknowledged that while some areas lacking 3G coverage have some level of mobile voice service, other areas have no mobile wireless service at all.”
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski should focus on universal service overhaul and spectrum rollout immediately, former commission Chairman Michael Powell said Friday. He spoke at a lunch conference of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Washington. After his speech, he was asked what “low hanging fruit” Genachowski ought to pick off in the next few months regardless of what happens in Tuesday’s elections. Besides USF and spectrum, Powell said Genachowski should “use his bully pulpit to shame every public figure” until America’s leaders rank broadband access and adoption as essential to civic life. Genachowski spoke earlier and reiterated his commitment to an open Internet. He declined to comment on whether he could accomplish USF and other goals if the Republicans make big gains in Congress in Tuesday’s election.
U.S. households would face a $30 monthly Universal Service Fund fee if the FCC were to require 100 Mbps for everyone through USF, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said. In a letter Oct. 13 to Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., released last week, Genachowski defended the National Broadband Plan recommendation of 4 Mbps nationwide through USF. The plan also set a goal of 100 Mbps for 100 million homes by 2020. Chambliss and other rural legislators have said that recommendation favors urban areas and relegates their rural constituents to second-class broadband. Genachowski said 4 Mbps “is very aggressive and represents one of the highest levels in the world today for universalization,” while 100 Mbps “is based on a long-range goal.” Users can e-mail, browse the Web, have two-way video calls and watch standard-definition video with 4 Mbps, he said. “The target speed also is ‘reasonably comparable’ to the broadband service currently provided in urban areas,” as defined by Section 254 of the Communications Act, he said.
Worried about the new shape of the Universal Service Fund, rural telcos have said they're going to come up with a USF formula of their own, said a joint ex parte filing by the Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance, the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies and the Western Telecommunications Alliance.
Lack of clarity on VoIP at the federal level opens the door to additional state activity, state officials told us. Regulators in states like Wisconsin are looking at VoIP issues, including authority over the technology. The Wisconsin Public Service Commission had a prehearing Tuesday and will look into the appropriate level of regulation on VoIP. A decision is expected in July.
Similarly situated wireless eligible telecommunications carriers do not face the same non-usage requirements and procedures, TracFone complained in a filing at the FCC. TracFone is subject to rigorous non-usage requirements under which its customers with no usage during a time period in excess of 60 days are de-enrolled from the Universal Service Fund’s Lifeline program. “TracFone urges the Commission to require all wireless ETCs that provide free airtime minutes to their Lifeline customers, such as Virgin Mobile USA … and others, to implement the same non-usage procedures and requirements as those imposed on TracFone,” the carrier said. Competitive neutrality and the FCC’s interest in limiting use of Lifeline support from the USF only for active customers “compel that all similarly-situated ETCs be subject to the same requirements."
An FCC vote on net neutrality principles proposed by Chairman Julius Genachowski in September 2009 appears unlikely before the January open meeting, industry and some agency officials said. Genachowski in particular appears ready to give Congress one last chance to approve net neutrality and broadband reclassification legislation during an expected lame-duck session, though congressional action seems unlikely.