Missouri consumers of local and intrastate long-distance wireline service will pay a lower USF surcharge as of July 1, the Missouri Public Service Commission said Tuesday. “Currently, the surcharge percentage of .0025 translates to 12.5 cents on a $50 bill,” the PSC said (http://on.mo.gov/16shQ1T). “With this reduction, the percentage of .0017 translates to 8.5 cents on a $50 bill."

New proposed state laws may interfere as Texas fights to reorganize its state USF, which provides several hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and reduce the support it gives out by the start of 2014. The Legislature previously demanded its state regulators make the changes. The Texas Public Utility Commission tried to begin that process in a docket this year, but has encountered resistance from telcos that suggest the Legislature may modify its USF laws yet again in the current session.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., plans to focus on FirstNet and unveil his vision for the future of the E-rate program at Tuesday’s FCC oversight hearing, a committee spokesman told us Monday. Rockefeller plans to tell all five commissioners that they must evaluate the success of one of his key education accomplishments, the E-rate program, and address its future needs at the 2:30 p.m. hearing in 253 Russell. The last time all the commissioners faced the panel was in May, shortly after the nominations of commissioners Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel were confirmed by the Senate. Only Chairman Julius Genachowski and Republican Robert McDowell will offer opening remarks at the hearing, several industry lobbyists told us. The Telecommunications Industry Association separately asked lawmakers to urge the FCC to “promptly” implement the voluntary spectrum incentive auction, reallocate federal spectrum for commercial wireless use, reform USF and streamline FCC regulations, in a letter sent Monday.

Observers disagreed on the FCC’s legal authority to implement the sweeping reforms in its 2011 USF/intercarrier compensation order, which is now the subject of a challenge in the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The commission argued in briefs Wednesday that its order was reasonable and grounded in law (CD March 7 p3). Analysts differed on the order’s chances of being upheld, but agreed that the key legal issues will be the scope of the FCC’s jurisdiction, and the true meaning of Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act. Oral argument is set for Nov. 19 in Denver.

Georgia legislators’ attempt to restrict municipal broadband failed Thursday night in a 94-70 House vote. But House Bill 282, introduced last month, echoing a failed Georgia bill last year and laws in other states, skyrocketed into a national debate about municipal networks this year before dying on the House floor. Vigorous back and forth occurred among legislators before the evening vote and carried over into stirrings of victory and lamentation Friday.

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai threw his weight behind an IP pilot program, based on AT&T’s proposal for deregulatory trials in various wire centers around the country, in a speech Thursday at the Hudson Institute (http://bit.ly/WNAjif). The program would allow “forward-looking companies” to select wire centers where they could “turn off their old TDM electronics and migrate consumers to an all-IP platform.” Some criticized Pai’s proposal as going even further than AT&T’s original “beta trials,” warning that the deregulatory proposal could harm consumers without leading to any real data.

The landmark order reforming the USF and intercarrier compensation system was a bastion of reasonableness, the FCC argued in the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday. In two briefs totaling more than 130 pages -- one devoted to USF issues, the other to ICC issues -- the commission argued its 2011 USF/ICC order was lawful, necessary and well within the FCC’s authority. Challengers to the order are merely “seeking to preserve the status quo,” the FCC said, arguing the claims of overstepping jurisdiction and violating procedure are “baseless."

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski circulated a draft order Wednesday proposing limited trials allowing VoIP providers direct access to numbers for set periods in a few unspecified markets, with regular reporting back to the commission, agency officials said. Genachowski also circulated an NPRM and an NOI further exploring questions about giving VoIP companies like Vonage direct access to numbers. All three items would have to be approved by commissioners.

Aventure Communications is an unlawful telecom scourge, telcos told Iowa state regulators this week in multiple filings. The company has faced scrutiny from the Iowa Utilities Board in the past, and now its opponents insist it’s violating past terms of the board’s orders and creating an ongoing problem. They point specifically to the need for appropriate intrastate high-volume access service rates and traffic pumping allegations, which Aventure attempted to downplay. Several stakeholders had failed to successfully negotiate a rate for what Aventure’s high-volume traffic should cost in 2011, prompting Aventure to initially complain to the board and inspiring several strong counterclaims. Stakeholders still debate what this rate should be. Aventure has operated since the fall of 2005 and is based in Sioux City, Iowa, according to its website.

The Michigan Public Service Commission fielded 2,102 telecommunications complaints and inquiries and issued 227 telecom orders in 2012, it told the Michigan Legislature in its 2012 report this week (http://1.usa.gov/ZdIHI4). The PSC noted the number of complaints dropped slightly compared to the year before and attributed the change to customers’ migration “from landline telephones to wireless and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.” Top concerns from state residents include billing errors, repair problems, cellular phones, cramming, service complaints and local number porting, it said. The report described ongoing complaints from rural telcos about least-cost routing and service quality problems in completing long-distance calls. “The Commission’s work in the telecommunications area included approving nine licenses for new telephone companies and revoking licenses for 17 companies that were grossly deficient in the statutory and regulatory responsibilities of licensed basic local exchange service providers,” the report said. “The Commission also approved 58 carriers as eligible telecommunications carriers to apply for federal Universal Service funding.”