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 negotiations on a hefty manager’s amendment to pending telecom reform legislation were expected to continue “well into the night and tomorrow,” a committee spokesman told us Wed. The committee is scheduled to markup Chmn. Stevens’ (R-Alaska) 3rd draft of the bill today (Thurs.). Some Hill watchers said the marathon meeting could spill into next week. The broad draft contains hot topics like net neutrality and preemption of state wireless regulation (CD June 21 p1), as well as issues like video franchising and Universal Service Fund (USF) reform.
Senate Commerce Committee negotiations on a hefty manager’s amendment to pending telecom reform legislation were expected to continue “well into the night and tomorrow,” a committee spokesman told us Wed. The committee is scheduled to markup Chmn. Stevens’ (R-Alaska) 3rd draft of the bill today (Thurs.). Some Hill watchers said the marathon meeting could spill into next week. The broad draft contains hot topics like net neutrality and preemption of state wireless regulation, as well as issues like video franchising and Universal Service Fund (USF) reform.
Decades of the Universal Service Fund contributed to 98% of U.S. households having phone service. This includes 88% of low-income households. But that feat hasn’t come cheaply, especially with the addition of the costly E-rate program that connects schools and libraries to the Internet. During 1998-2005, the USF spent $37.8 billion, according to the National Regulatory Research Institute, which pegs fiscal 2006 USF outlays at $7.3 billion. In fiscal 2006, requests for school and library funding alone will total $3.55 billion to be disbursed among 39,416 applicants, the Universal Service Administration Co. reported (CD March 22 p11).
Addition of Robert McDowell as a 3rd Republican member of the FCC likely will mean Chmn. Martin will move within months on key items on which he needs an extra vote but over which he has been unable or unwilling to negotiate with Democrats. The Senate confirmed McDowell Fri. by unanimous consent after a series of holds were lifted.
FCC Chmn. Martin and others are using a “phony crisis” to justify a proposal to change how Universal Service Fund (USF) contributions are collected, the Keep USF Fair Coalition told reporters Mon. The group, which opposes Martin’s proposal of a flat collection method based on telephone numbers, said the current revenue-based method isn’t broken. Coalition Exec. Dir. Maureen Thompson released a report she said “debunks the hoax” that USF collection reform is needed. The report shows the long distance revenue base for USF contributions isn’t dwindling, as opponents argue, Thompson said. According to the report, long distance revenue base, $76.6 billion in 2003, is projected to be $78.9 billion in 2006. Projected revenues drop slightly in 2007 to $76.8 billion -- still slightly over the 2003 level, Thompson said in an audio news conference. If needed, the current revenue base easily could be expanded by making it more “technology neutral,” meaning revenue could be added from VoIP and other advanced technologies not directly contributing to the fund now. If that were done, the expanded revenue base for USF would be $104.5 billion in 2006 and $105.9 billion in 2007, Thompson said, calling that a more “common-sense” approach to enlarging the fund. The coalition opposes a numbers-based system because it might lead to higher fees for low-volume users of long distance service. Although contributions to the fund come from companies that offer long distance service through a percentage of revenue, the firms pass the fees onto users. The coalition’s announcement came on the eve of a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on USF contributions today (Tues.). The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) took advantage of today’s scheduled hearing to issue a call for more sweeping USF change. The think tank said the USF has “spiraled out of control,” giving “wasteful subsidies [to] entrenched local carriers.” Rather than expand USF to include contributions from high-tech services such as VoIP, Congress should target needy consumers with vouchers and add rules that “ensure public accountability and safeguard cutting-edge innovations,” PRI said.
The FCC decision not to act on a Verizon forbearance petition seeking regulatory relief regarding charges to business customers for high-speed data was a win for Verizon -- but how big remains unclear, analysts said Tues. The exact relief provided by the FCC is uncertain because the Commission has released statements and a news release, but no order yet, analysts said.
The FCC decision not to act on a Verizon forbearance petition seeking regulatory relief regarding charges to business customers for high-speed data was a win for Verizon -- but how big remains unclear, analysts said Tues. The exact relief provided by the FCC is uncertain because the Commission has released statements and a news release, but no order yet, analysts said.
A bill introduced by Sen. DeMint (R-S.C.) that would give the FCC authority to define what constitutes fair competition for consumers is based largely on ideas from the Progress & Freedom Foundation’s project on telecom reform. The bill, which has no co-sponsors, includes a substantial section on universal service fund (USF) reform -- the first major Senate telecom bill to address the matter. The provisions are based on research by experts PFF convened from universities, law firms and research groups (CD Dec 9 p3). DeMint’s bill would require the FCC to adopt within 6 months after enactment a new contribution mechanism based on phone numbers; place a $3.6 billion cap on distribution, in the form of performance-based block grants to states.
State lawmakers from across the U.S. will tackle telecom and technology issues this week at the National Conference of State Legislatures’ annual conference in Seattle. Proposed state and national telecom law rewrites and wrangles over municipal Wi-Fi are among the hot topics at the 5-day conference, which begins today (Tues.). About 7,000 state legislators, policy experts, advocates, govt. leaders and media are expected to attend.