The FCC’s order Friday that requires nomadic VoIP providers to pay into state Universal Service Funds and federal USF could lead to more regulatory activities in some states, officials said in interviews. The order (CD Nov 8 p2) had been expected since September, when Kansas and Nebraska amended their petition to the FCC by deleting language that would have allowed states to assess fees retroactively.
African-Americans and Hispanics are still less likely to use broadband Internet in their homes even when they attain the same education and income levels as whites, a government report said. Nearly 87 percent of urban and nearly 76 percent of rural, college-educated white families used broadband in their homes in 2009. But for black families with the same education, the percentages were about 77 percent in cities and 56 percent in the countryside; for college-educated Hispanics, the percentages were almost 78 percent in cities and about 69 percent in the country, the Commerce Department said in a report released Monday.
The FCC should help poor families enroll automatically in Lifeline and Link-Up, adopt minimum national standards for eligibility, seek comment on whether to set up a national database to check enrollment, publish rules on how Lifeline carriers reach out to the public and seek comment on whether families should be eligible for the programs when their income is 150 percent of the poverty level, instead of the current 135 percent, the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service recommended Friday. The joint board also recommended that the FCC use USF to support broadband access. The FCC had asked the board for its thoughts “on how to improve” the USF program “given changes that include increasing migration to wireless service and the increased importance of broadband.” Federal joint-board Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Michael Copps agreed and concurred in part. Clyburn said she wants the commission to publish a comparative guide for Lifeline customers. She also said the FCC “should review whether the current state of competition for Lifeline products is insufficient to protect consumers.” Copps said he worried that the joint board’s review was too narrow. “I would simply note here that the need for universal service support for broadband is one of many reasons I continue to urge Title II reclassification and our decision today does nothing to temper my support for that course of action,” he wrote. Chairman Ray Baum of Oregon’s Public Utility Commission, a joint board member, concurred and dissented in part. He said the joint board didn’t focus enough on waste, fraud and abuse. “I am disappointed that we did not offer specific recommendations for tougher eligibility verification standards, to be implemented now, to stem the waste, fraud and abuse that appears to be occurring,” Baum wrote.
Nomadic VoIP providers will have to pay into state Universal Service funds as well as the federal USF, the FCC ruled Friday. In a 5-0 declaratory ruling published late Friday, the commission ruled in favor of a request by the Kansas and Nebraska utilities commissions. That would let states assess USF fees on nomadic VoIP.
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.