The proposed quantile regression formulas contemplated by the Universal Service...
The proposed quantile regression formulas contemplated by the Universal Service Fund/intercarrier compensation order “cannot lawfully be implemented,” NTCA, the National Exchange Carrier Association, OPASTCO and the Western Telecommunications Alliance said in a letter to the FCC Wireline Bureau Monday (http://xrl.us/bmyr8c).…
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“Flaws in the models are so serious the formulas cannot simply be ‘fixed’ under delegated authority by the Bureau,” the groups said. “The Commission should accordingly suspend implementation of its quantile regression formulas and consider other alternatives.” The groups pointed to comments made by government economists in a peer review (CD March 13 p9), and argued that the peer reviews reinforced many of the concerns already highlighted in the record. The groups also noted that the peer reviews themselves were limited to whether quantile regression models were better than other statistical methods, a concern “not nearly as significant as whether it makes any sense at all” to use regression formulas to limit high-cost loop support payments to rate-of-return companies.