CHICAGO - Network neutrality rules could slow or “halt” progress toward a fully connected world, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg said in a keynote speech Wednesday at Supercomm. “While this future is imminent, it is not inevitable, and the decisions we make today - as an industry and as a country - will determine whether the benefits of these transformational networks will be felt sooner or much, much later.”

CHICAGO - Network neutrality rules could slow or “halt” progress toward a fully connected world, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg said in a keynote speech Wednesday at Supercomm. “While this future is imminent, it is not inevitable, and the decisions we make today - as an industry and as a country - will determine whether the benefits of these transformational networks will be felt sooner or much, much later.”

The interim cap on the Universal Service Fund has stunted wireless growth in North Carolina, Virginia and other states, said the Rural Cellular Association. In a letter last week to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowksi, RCA criticized a June 19 letter by the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates that said the cap has caused little harm. “NASUCA is more concerned about how much consumers pay into the fund rather than ensuring that rural consumers receive the benefits that the fund was intended to deliver,” the rural group said. “We think the latter, especially in the current economy, should be of paramount importance to the Commission and that the interim cap is frustrating Congressional objectives set forth in Section 254 of the Act.” In North Carolina, for example, the cap is cutting $23 million in USF subsidies annually, the rural association said. “As a result, wireless carriers serving the state are being forced to cancel or delay plans for new cell site construction.” The association played down the cost to consumers of removing the cap, saying the increase to USF fees on phone bills would be “pennies to low volume users … and negligible to high volume users.” The FCC has no authority to say what contribution factor is too high, it said. “Congress has never stated what level of contribution factor is unacceptable, and it is the province of Congress, not the FCC, to make such a determination.”

An AT&T emergency petition on Universal Service Fund contributions is expected to flare up old arguments before the new FCC, telecom industry officials said Monday. Late Friday, the company urged “immediate commission action” to adopt the plan by AT&T and Verizon for a pure numbers-based mechanism, in light of the all-time high 12.9 percent contribution factor that kicked in earlier this month. But AT&T’s foes don’t appear to have budged on the subject.

The FCC aims to open soon a proceeding that will “closely examine” wireless handset exclusives, acting Chairman Michael Copps said Thursday. In a keynote speech at the Pike & Fischer Broadband Summit, he also called for an overhaul of the Universal Service Fund and reflected on the agency’s development of a national broadband plan.

An FCC report on rural broadband prescribes government intervention to spur availability and demand. The report, released publicly on Wednesday, was required by Congress in the 2008 Farm Bill and did not require sign off by all commissioners.

An FCC report on rural broadband prescribes government intervention to spur availability and demand. The report, released publicly on Wednesday, was required by Congress in the 2008 Farm Bill and did not require sign off by all commissioners. Instead, writing in the first-person, acting Chairman Michael Copps highlighted common problems affecting rural broadband, including technological challenges, lack of data and high network costs. Copps also urged a revamp of the Universal Service Fund, new rules on network openness and an audit of all spectrum that the FCC has licensed, with an eye on where it is being used effectively or could see more use on a secondary basis.

There appeared to be little new in the more than 100 comments that flooded into the FCC this week about how to develop a comprehensive broadband strategy for rural parts of the U.S. The recommendations of the commission are expected to be given weight at NTIA and RUS as the agencies develop their respective broadband stimulus programs.

Consensus is building on universal service legislation that would expand the fund to cover broadband, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., told the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association Tuesday. Boucher asked the group, which held its annual legislative conference this week, to urge members of Congress to support legislation he hopes to introduce “in the near term.” He declined to say when the legislation would be ready.

The Alarm Industry Communications Committee said that if the FCC makes their members pay into the Universal Service Fund, the effect would be “devastating.” The group filed in a FCC docket seeking comment on various proposals for USF reform, which include proposals to base USF contributions on individual phone numbers. “The imposition of either an $.85/number or $l/number charge could have devastating effects on a rapidly growing sector of the alarm industry,” the group said. It noted that its service, connecting alarms to a central office, does not touch the PSTN and customers would not be able to make or receive calls. “The transmission between the customer’s premise and the alarm monitoring center is specified by the alarm company, and not the customer,” the filing said. “The panel dials a predetermined number which serves the alarm company and … the panels may not be used to dial the PSTN except with extreme difficulty, if at all.”