AT&T: FCC Must Fix Universal Service Fund
Telco Said Commission Needs To Address USF Before Focusing On National Broadband Plan
John Eggerton -- Multichannel News, 6/15/2009 1:29:22 PM
AT&T says that the Federal Communications Commission cannot get serious about a national broadband plan until it fixes the Universal Service Fund, which.underwrites telecommunications service in hard-to-reach or uneconomical-to-reach areas..
That came in response to the FCC's announcement Monday of the latest USF contribution percentage, which is now at 12.9%, up from 9.5% at the beginning of the year, says AT&T, a whopping 36% increase.
The fund's base continues to shrink as more people drop landline for wireless and Internet phone service.
"The universal service fund is in a death spiral, driven by growing demands on the fund, the decline of the wireline model and consumer migration to other platforms and services," said AT&T in a statement. "These factors cause the government to ask for more money from a shrinking base of phone customers to support the goals of universal service. This vicious cycle leads to higher and higher USF fees.... In order to begin a discussion on a national broadband plan, the commission must address comprehensive universal service reform."
Most companies and government agencies concede the fund needs fixing. One proposal has been to expand it beyond phone service to include broadband, which would both broaden the base of contributors and start underwriting broadband deployment, which is a national priority of Congress, the administration and the FCC.
Currently, the fund goes to subsidize telephone service, but if the Democrats now in control of Congress have their way, it will be extended to underwriting the broadband build-out as well. That would be in addition to the $7.2 billion in the economic stimulus package going toward that same goal.
House Communication Subcommittee chairman Rick Boucher (D-Va.), who has previously proposed reforming the fund, has said he and his past partner in that effort, Lee Terry (R-Neb.), would be reintroducing a bill to expand the revenue base for the fund.
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Leave it to the dems to find another way to tax the masses. Call you reps and let them know this is just another bogus tax.
Rick - 12/14/2009 3:00:30 PM EST -
I guess we will just face more disappointment from the FCC as far as the bells are concerned. I had high hopes that we would see fairness or as president Obama stated a level playing field. Well the universal fund would help rural and low income areas if in fact it was enforced. The NST was designed to do the same thing with Payphones in low income and rural areas. But Since 1997 when the RBOC Coalition presented the letter asking for a forty five day extension written and signed by the RBOC coalition and their attorneys the Kellogg firm. Fairness tell me where is the fairness in rewarding the RBOC'S with revenues that they were not entitled to?? Tell me that unit they corrected the problem they found and avoided they should have been enriched with these more than fair benefits! Baloney time has come and gone twelve years and still the FCC fails to say yes you guys promised refunds if you did not set a NST rate along with documentation supporting the cost! So tell me where do you think we will get fairness from. The order clearly states that they will if not in compliance will issue refunds or credits back to 1997.
richard marotte - 6/30/2009 4:24:42 PM EDT
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