The Internet voice industry is divided on a popular proposal to base universal service fund contributions by carriers on phone number count rather than interstate revenue. Vonage and other interconnected VoIP carriers support a numbers approach as making the fund technology- neutral. Others say a numbers world would force overhaul of business models at Google’s GrandCentral and other enhanced service providers. That shouldn’t be, Feature Group IP CEO Lowell Feldman said in an interview. Ten- digit phone numbers represent “1970 technology, not 2008 technology,” he said. “The numbers scheme is really a sleight of hand to try to force the industry to always use numbers.”
Colleges’ Universal Service Fund (USF) costs will rise “astronomically” if the FCC moves fund contributions from a revenue- to a numbers-based approach, universities and a higher education group told Communications Daily. Colleges could have to choose between removing dormitory phones and paying the drastically higher fees, they said. Either way, there will be “negative financial, technical and social impact,” said Jeri Semer, executive director of the Association for Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education (ACUTA). FCC chairman Kevin Martin last May said he has “long favored” a numbers-based model and plans to propose to reform USF contribution this fall (CD May 15 p1).
Arguments against capping universal service subsidies to competitive carriers are based on “short-term self interest rather than long-term public interest,” OPASTCO told the FCC. “Excessive growth in the High-Cost program that is threatening its sustainability is attributable solely to competitive ETCs,” said OPASTCO in reply comments on the cap proposal. On the other hand, extending the interim cap to all rural telecom companies would “seriously threaten” wireline rural carriers, OPASTCO said. “At greatest risk would be continued service to subscribers in the most remote and highest-cost regions that may not have other reliable service options,” said the group, which represents wireline LECs.
Rep. Boucher (D-Va.) asked OPASTCO to promote his Universal Service Fund (USF) bill (HR-2054) on the Hill Wed. at the group’s legislative conference. The measure would revamp the USF program by widening the contribution base to include all those providing network connections, and expand services to pay for broadband. “We are in a hypercompetitive global market,” Boucher told OPASTCO members, stressing the importance of getting faster broadband deployment throughout the country, especially in rural areas. USF is under stress “today as never before,” Boucher said, adding that he and the bill’s chief co-sponsor, Rep. Terry (R-Neb.), have worked 3 years on “comprehensive” legislation to deal with problems in the system. Boucher’s bill has 11 co-sponsors, all but one Republicans. It has attracted support from AT&T, Qwest, Embarq and Alltel and NTCA, Boucher said, and the challenge is to encourage trade groups that like the bill to urge other lawmakers to sign up. “This bill will not be passed into law without your personal assistance,” Boucher told OPASTCO members. OPASTCO Pres. John Rose said the group applauds the bill but thinks it wise to pursue regulatory as well as legislative fixes.
FCC Chmn. Kevin Martin plans to proceed as soon as the fall on a proposal to change how telecom providers contribute to the Universal Service Fund, he said Mon. after a speech. Martin told reporters he is waiting for a U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., decision on a related universal service issue before teeing up a proposal to replace the revenue-based contribution system with one relying on phone numbers.
More interim changes to the Universal Service Fund (USF) contributions system simply will delay reform, VoIP providers and others told the FCC in comments filed Wed. The FCC in a June order making interim fixes (CD June 22 p1), asked if more temporary changes were due. Commenters told the FCC not to waste time on interim fixes but to replace the revenue- based system.
A collection system for the Universal Service Fund (USF) based on telephone numbers gained the support of a new telecom alliance called the USF by the Numbers Coalition. The coalition - made up of groups such as NCTA, CTIA and USTelecom and its members AT&T and BellSouth -- held a news conference call Tues. to “set the story straight” on misconceptions about the plan, it said.
Close votes on key amendments dealing with net neutrality and buildout requirements signal a tough fight ahead on the Senate floor for the Senate telecom bill (HR- 5252), lobbyists and industry sources said. Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) has acknowledged the difficulty he faces and said at the end of Wed.’s markup that he’s considering introducing a slimmed-down bill.
Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens doesn’t yet have the 60 votes needed to end debate and set up a vote on the telecom bill (S-2686) on the Senate floor, he told reporters after markup Tues. Senate leadership has “no great interest” in the bill while the debate continues as it has, he said. His comments came after a day-long session in a markup that began last week. Key issues remain to be tackled, but the bill is expected to pass out of the committee.
At our deadline, the House was expected to endorse a rule allowing a net neutrality amendment to the House video bill (HR-5252), which in turn was set for vote later Thurs. The amendment, by Rep. Markey (D-Mass.), would subject network operators to anti-bias rules and provide for expedited complaint review. It’s among 8 amendments the Rules Committee decided to accept late Wed. after a hearing on about 25 proposed changes to the bill.