The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved amended Internet accessibility legislation by Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and John Kerry, D-Mass., in a voice vote Thursday morning. The bill (S-3304) aims to increase the number of hearing aid-compatible phones, improve access to 911 emergency services, and expand and update closed captioning and video description requirements. Democrats and Republicans supported the bill, despite lingering concerns by consumer electronics companies (CD July 15 p12) .
A revamped rural health care telecom subsidy program should help more health facilities use broadband to connect to the outside world, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said. The commission initiated a rulemaking Thursday to change the rules of the USF program based on lessons learned from the Rural Health Care Pilot Program. The original program failed to live up to its potential, Commissioner Michael Copps said. In most years it disbursed less than 20 percent of the $400 million that could be spent.
Florida’s Public Service Commission designated T-Mobile an eligible telecom carrier able to receive federal Universal Service Fund support. This means T-Mobile will be able to expand its facilities more quickly in rural areas, lowering service costs to rural residents, the commission said Tuesday. T-Mobile must show annually when applying for recertification that it uses high-cost funding to invest in infrastructure in Florida. The company plans to offer the Lifeline discount service in some parts of the state. Lifeline customers, who will receive a discounted or free handset based on contract term and type of phone, will get 145 “whenever” minutes, 500 night minutes and 500 weekend minutes per month for $6.49 per month, once the $13.50 Lifeline discount is applied to a $19.99 plan.
The National Broadband Plan’s suggestions for transforming funding support for voice and broadband generated a sharp divide between small, rural carriers and larger carriers that serve both urban and rural districts. The FCC received nearly 100 comments Monday, the deadline for responding to a notice of inquiry and notice of proposed rulemaking on changing legacy support systems, bringing broadband to unserved areas before the Connect America Fund (CAF) is created and using an economic model to target support. The wireless industry also weighed in, with carriers making the case that reforms have to be competitively neutral, not giving wireline any advantages.
FCC data on the Universal Service Fund released by the House Commerce Committee last week (CD July 9 p5) “clearly proves that taxpayers are paying the price” for the government’s delay in overhauling the fund, said Rural Cellular Association President Steve Berry. The commission should cut USF funding for “antiquated technologies and adopt reform mechanisms that reflect consumers’ migration from wireline to wireless,” he said.
House Commerce Committee Republicans criticized the high cost of subsidies under the Universal Service Fund, saying the FCC needs to forget about net neutrality and concentrate on fixing “antiquated voice service subsidies.” That came after the release of information provided to the committee by the commission in response to a June 15 request from Chairman Henry Waxman of California, Ranking Member Joe Barton of Texas, Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher of Virginia and Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Cliff Stearns of Florida.
The House Communications Subcommittee approved Internet accessibility legislation in a voice vote Wednesday afternoon, with a manager’s amendment by Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va. Boucher said he hoped to offer another manager’s amendment later to address “remaining points of difference,” including those related to video description rules. Meanwhile, disabilities rights advocates were upset after learning the amendment cut out a provision that would subsidize broadband services and equipment for people with disabilities.
Vermont regulators turned thumbs down on a FairPoint proposal for a new regulatory arrangement with the state as part of the company’s Chapter 11 reorganization. The settlement was negotiated with the state Department of Public Service. Earlier, the Maine utility commission approved a variation on the proposal that the Vermont board rejected. New Hampshire authorities are still reviewing the settlement version proposed there.
The FCC plans to complete a USF overhaul next year, said Commissioner Meredith Baker at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Thursday. Baker and her two FCC colleagues on the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service -- Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Michael Copps -- agreed USF was broken. But they disagreed whether they could revamp USF without first reclassifying broadband transport under Title II of the Communications Act.
The FCC’s “precedents do not clearly establish whether MeetingOne’s IP-based conferencing service is subject to Universal Service Fund contributions,” MeetingOne said in reply comments to its petition regarding USF contributions. The company requested a review of a Universal Service Administrative Co. decision that subjects MeetingOne to contribution obligations for past and future revenue, the FCC said in a public notice. “In the face of uncertainty, MeetingOne has stepped forward of its own accord to ascertain the scope of its obligations.” It “should not have its business obliterated by the imposition of retroactive payment obligations,” the company said. The Voice on the Net Coalition is not taking any position on whether MeetingOne should contribute to USF, “but submits that any commission decision on the MeetingOne petition should specifically delineate the limits of USF application to collaboration and conferencing services,” the VON Coalition said in comments. There continues to be “uncertainty regarding the limits of those information services with respect to collaboration and conferencing. Therefore, the commission should use this opportunity to provide this much-needed clarity."