The FCC should use an annual USF access tariff allocation method based on total eligible recovery amounts rather than interstate base period revenue, the National Exchange Carrier Association told Wireline Bureau officials, an ex parte filing said (http://xrl.us/bnp6na). NECA intends to propose to continue the pooling process by reallocating billed switch access revenues to pooling companies with positive eligible recovery, it said.
In light of “ballooning federal USF charges,” the FCC should shift to a “fair, workable and future-proof” connections-based contribution mechanism, Google representatives told FCC Wireline Bureau officials and aides to commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Ajit Pai Wednesday, an ex parte filing said (http://xrl.us/bnp6k3). “A wide cross-section of commenters have described numerous benefits that could flow from a connections-based system, including greater equity, reduced administrative burdens, and greater simplicity,” Google wrote.
The FCC should make clear that Short Message Service revenue is exempt from the USF and “will remain so until all competing services (such as iMessage, Facebook messaging, and Google’s GChat, among others) are required to contribute, in order to prevent competitive imbalance,” MetroPCS officials said in a meeting with aides to Chairman Julius Genachowski and Commissioner Robert McDowell. MetroPCS also made other suggestions (http://xrl.us/bnprp4). The FCC should also “create a system where carriers can seek informal guidance on USF contribution matters, perhaps in a manner similar to the Internal Revenue Services’ private letter ruling process” and “extend the time for carriers to seek refunds on USF contribution overpayments and eliminate the asymmetry between a carrier’s ability to file for a refund and the Commission’s ability to recoup past underpayments, as the current system artificially encourages carriers to be more aggressive in their revenue classification positions,” the carrier said.
The FCC’s budget for salaries and expenses would be cut 8.2 percent, equal to roughly $28 million, if a Congress doesn’t act to stop sequestration before Jan. 2, the White House said. The news came in the administration’s much anticipated sequestration report Friday, which detailed sharp across-the-board cuts to the budgets of most federal agencies. An industry group and a union representing FCC employees said the report shows the negative impact that sequestration will have on federal employees, private industry and the economy as a whole.
Industry and agency officials gathered at the FCC Thursday for a detailed explanation of the proposed Connect America Fund Phase II cost model, presented by CostQuest Associates. The goal of the CostQuest broadband analysis tool (CQBAT) is to identify the high-cost portions of broadband buildout throughout the country, defined by the ABC Coalition as anything over $80. A map presented at the meeting showed most of the high-cost areas exist in the western half of the country, and some loops can even cost in excess of a million dollars. This can happen when a dedicated plant is required to serve a single customer, said CostQuest President James Stegeman.
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said it may be time for Congress to abolish the USF. The senior House Commerce Committee member and its former chairman spoke in a C-SPAN interview about the fund created by the Telecom Act of 1996 and being expanded by the FCC to cover broadband. Barton, on an episode of The Communicators to be shown Saturday and Monday, was sharply critical of FCC net neutrality rules. Limited privacy legislation could still be enacted in 2012, he said.
The FCC takes its visits to deployment sites and meetings with carriers “very seriously,” and continues to make adjustments to its USF reforms “as necessary,” Chairman Julius Genachowski told Alaskan members of Congress in a letter made public Friday (http://xrl.us/bno76j). Genachowski wrote in response to correspondence from the Alaskan lawmakers urging the commission to grant a waiver to Windy City Cellular, which operates on the remote island of Adak (CD Aug 13 p6). Genachowski pointed to the April “Benchmarks Order” in which the Wireline Bureau revised the high-cost loop support benchmark categories to reflect similarly situated providers, added new variables, and adjusted the phase-in period of the changes. Genachowski noted the reform was unanimously approved by the commission, and said it was important to “keep moving forward” on implementation, and “not roll back progress.” He also pointed to the six-month waiver already granted to Windy City, which gave the carrier $40,000 “to support the status quo” in its service area while the commission considered a petition by its parent company, Adak Eagle Enterprises. “During my trip to Alaska last year, I had an opportunity to visit deployment sites and meet with many of the Alaska carriers to get an understanding of the unique challenges they face. We take these visits and meetings very seriously, and the Commission -- and the staff on delegated authority -- continues to make adjustments to our reforms as necessary,” the letter said.
Accipiter deserves a limited and targeted waiver of the FCC’s USF rules, President Patrick Sherrill told the chief of the Wireline Bureau and aides to Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel, Robert McDowell, Mignon Clyburn and Chairman Julius Genachowski (http://xrl.us/bno7rx). Accipiter wants the commission to use Accipiter’s most current line count data as a “replacement variable” in the per-line formula and regression formulas for determining its USF limitations, it said. A waiver, while still capping Accipter’s support, would let the telco maintain service and repay its loans, it said.
NTCA continues to have concerns about the transparency, accuracy and predictability of regression analysis-based caps on USF support, President Shirley Bloomfield told aides to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, an ex parte filing said (http://xrl.us/bnote5). The commission should adopt no further caps without first gathering data and evaluating the effects of reform on consumers and broadband deployment “before deciding upon what next steps, if any, might be necessary,” NTCA said.
Through Sept. 11 International Broadcasting Convention, RAI Amsterdam -- http://xrl.us/bnj8h5