Universal service lobbying was intensifying at the FCC as the deadline for the October open meeting drew near, filings on docket 10-90 showed. Comcast, Cox Communications, Northeast Colorado Cellular, U.S. Cellular, USTelecom, NTCA, NECA, Free Press, Dish Network and CompTel posted ex parte notices Friday. If the commission is to adopt an order for the Oct. 27 meeting, drafts must circulate by Thursday. Most industry observers expect such an order, but weren’t certain how many changes staff would make from the incumbent-backed ABC and rural consensus plans. The most-contested provisions remained the right-of-first-refusal provision for wireline carriers and the size of the mobility fund, but Free Press also filed a lengthy denunciation of the plans.

Wireless carrier officials say they see some willingness on the FCC’s part to make changes to the final Universal Service Fund/intercarrier comp order to address wireless concerns. Numerous small and mid-sized carriers have been at the commission in recent days to make clear their concerns. One discussion point has been the size of the fund, industry officials said. A second has been putting in place rules that would guarantee a dedicated fund for wireless buildout.

Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., urged the FCC to move forward with its overhaul of the Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation. In a letter dated Tuesday to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Emerson cited “a serious problem with broadband connectivity in rural America.” Emerson chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the FCC. “The Commission needs to continue with reform of these two programs in a manner that is aimed at meeting the objective of accelerating broadband deployment to rural areas -- and doing so in a fiscally responsible way -- by carefully targeting support and keeping the high-cost Universal Service Fund within its current budget,” Emerson said. In a separate letter to Genachowski dated Sept. 23, the congressional delegation from Idaho applauded the FCC and the industry’s overhaul efforts. “We are encouraged by the recent discussions with Idaho stakeholders,” said Sens. Mike Crapo and James Risch and Reps. Mike Simpson and Raul Labrador, all Republicans from the state. “You have already received a careful review process and feedback that gives you and the FCC an opportunity to reform and update the USF and its core mission mandate and goals."

Rate-of-return carriers would receive more than $13 billion in Universal Service Fund cash over the next six years under the ABC plan, executives from the incumbent companies behind the plan said last week in a meeting with FCC staff. USF support for rate-of-return areas would start at $2 billion in 2012 and reach $2.3 billion in 2017, executives said, according to an ex parte notice posted Wednesday to docket 10-90. The program would generate $161 million in budget surplus over the next five years, the executives said in their presentation (http://xrl.us/bmesfk). Under the ABC plan, the “legacy” high cost Universal Service Fund would spend a little more than $2 billion over four years, starting with $821 million in 2012 before dropping to zero in 2016, the ABC executives said. The Connect America Fund would start by spending $440 million in 2012 and reach more than $2.2 billion by 2017, the executives said. The executives were from AT&T, Frontier, USTelecom, Verizon, Windstream and CenturyLink.

The America’s Broadband Connectivity (ABC) plan for Universal Service Fund reform would “disenfranchise consumers -- particularly those in rural areas -- who stand to benefit from the availability of broadband technologies like satellite broadband,” said Dish Network. It and sister company EchoStar recently met with an adviser to FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn (http://xrl.us/bmerve), an ex parte filing said. The agency is considering ways to reform USF, including the ABC plan. That plan “would misallocate USF support, undermine competition, and deprive rural customers of high-quality and cost-effective services offered by competitive providers,” Dish said. It pointed to the success of the Rural Utilities Service Broadband Initiative Program that partly subsidized satellite broadband service through a $58.7 million grant to EchoStar subsidiary Hughes Network Systems. Hughes saw more than 95,000 orders for the satellite broadband service from eligible customers, said Dish.

CTIA’s top priority is getting Congress to pass spectrum legislation, and the association thinks it’s not a question of if, but when a bill will be approved, CTIA President Steve Largent said during a press conference Wednesday. CTIA officials also said Universal Service Fund reform remains a significant issue for wireless carriers, with the FCC poised to take up an order at its Oct. 27 meeting. Largent said he’s confident the 1755-1780 MHz band will be reallocated for wireless broadband.

Rural telcos and state regulators worry the pending universal service and intercarrier compensation regime reforms will result in consolidation in their sector. Earlier this week, ex-FCC commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth accused the agency of pushing rural telcos toward consolidation in the Universal Service Fund rulemaking notice (CD Sept 26 p13).

House Democrats urged a focus on broadband adoption as the FCC considers an overhaul to the Universal Service Fund. Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., circulated the letter last week (CD Sept 22 p16) and got signatures from 34 Democrats, including House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. Matsui sent the letter Tuesday to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. The letter “makes the crucial point that in reforming USF, the FCC must give a greater priority to adoption efforts than it has in the past,” Aspen Institute fellow Blair Levin, author of the National Broadband Plan, said in a statement. “Some at the FCC have said that dealing with adoption now is ‘putting the cart before the horse,’ but if the current USF Reform effort results in excessive spending in high cost areas, as some have urged, we will have a lavish cart but no money for a horse, and end up stuck on the side of the road.” The FCC welcomes Matsui’s “leadership in support of broadband adoption and fiscally responsible reform of the high-cost fund,” an FCC spokesman said. “In reforming all components of the Universal Service Fund, the Commission is focused on helping American consumers by increasing broadband availability and adoption and limiting the burden of USF contributions."

Cablevision became the latest cable operator to lobby the FCC on Universal Service Fund reforms, with its first such meetings on the subject since May, filings posted in docket 10-90 show (http://xrl.us/bmem2c). The agency should eliminate a subsidy to ILECs where an unsubsidized company sells service or begins doing so after there’s a USF broadband fund, the company said. The Dec. 31 cutoff proposed in the ILEC-backed USF reform plan “would effectively lock in a subsidy for any area that lacks a competing broadband provider today,” Cablevision recounted executives having told Wireline Bureau staffers and aides to all four FCC members. “Cablevision proposed that the forward-looking cost model proposed to identify high-cost areas and the level of support should be based on the most efficient available terrestrial technology rather than on the incumbents’ costs,” the company said. “In persistently high-cost areas where USF subsidies will remain necessary, we suggested that the Commission mandate portable subsidies that can be used with either the ILEC or a new entrant.” NCTA meanwhile sought “expeditious” USF high-cost support and intercarrier compensation reform, in a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, the association said. “The Commission should provide certainty regarding the ability of providers to receive compensation for terminating calls, regardless of the technology used by the end user of the call.” NCTA said its executives told an aide to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski of “the importance of ensuring that broadband is deployed to unserved areas as quickly as possible in a competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory manner.” Alaskan cable operator GCI also reported meeting with Wireline Bureau officials about its Alaska Broadband Plan, as the agency may vote on a USF and intercarrier comp order on Oct. 27 (CD Sept 27 p1).

Don’t dip into the Universal Service Fund, rural telecom associations wrote the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. The super committee is mandated to seek $1.5 trillion in savings. USF is federally mandated, but privately funded and maintained outside the U.S. Treasury, OPASTCO, the NTCA and the Western Telecom Alliance wrote Monday. “Legal precedents and guidance definitively confirm that the USF monies do not constitute ‘public monies’ that are received for the use of the United States, but rather are private funds that are merely derived and distributed at the discretion of federal statute,” they said. “Any taking of money from the Universal Service Fund would not result in an actual cut in the federal deficit,” said OPASTCO Vice President Randy Tyree. “This sort of taking would only result in job loss and inadequate communications services."