USTelecom Says Parties Near 'Finish Line' of Rural USF Overhaul Effort
USTelecom believes the FCC and industry are "close to the finish line" in the effort to overhaul rural USF voice subsidy mechanisms to support both broadband and voice service by rate-of-return carriers. USTelecom is "committed to reaching agreement on the…
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few remaining points that need to be resolved," said a filing posted Thursday by Robert Mayer, USTelecom vice president-industry and state affairs, after a meeting with FCC and state officials. "I noted that USTelecom had been working closely with a group of associations and our members on the plan and that we had members who were leaning towards the proposed Model option and others who were interested in the Non-Model option. I indicated that it was in our mutual interest to reach agreement among the participating associations," Mayer's filing said. NTCA earlier this week warned there wasn't enough time to adopt a broad rural USF overhaul this year, though more targeted reforms to fix the "standalone broadband problem" were more doable (see 1511100064). Other groups posted short filings Thursday in docket 10-90 noting FCC meetings on USF issues.