FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is expected to easily advance out of the Senate Commerce Committee during a Wednesday meeting (see 2111230066) with unanimous support from panel Democrats and potentially most Republicans too, lawmakers and lobbyists said in interviews. Democratic FTC nominee Alvaro Bedoya is expected to get far less Republican support, amid some members’ threats to place holds on his confirmation (see 2111170059). The panel’s reception for Democratic FCC nominee Gigi Sohn is expected to divide sharply along party lines, while NTIA administrator nominee Alan Davidson could draw significantly less attention (see 2111300068). The meeting will begin at 10:15 a.m. in 253 Russell.
LOUISVILLE -- Just as states are pursuing a few approaches to shore up their own USFs, state regulators have a similar array of ideas about how the federal government can put its funds for broadband and other telecom services on sounder financial footing. In interviews on the sidelines of NARUC's gathering and in phone interviews for those who didn't travel here for the Sunday-Wednesday event, commissioners generally agreed the path the federal USF is on isn't sustainable because the percentage fee on some telecom services that consumers are levied on their monthly bills has gone up in recent years.
As states prepare for a significant role spending broadband funds from the bipartisan infrastructure bill, telecom industry representatives cautioned NARUC Tuesday against applying traditional telephone rules. “States will have a bigger role than they’ve ever had before” since the infrastructure package includes $42.5 billion for broadband deployment that NTIA will distribute to states, said Verizon Director-Public Policy Paul Vasington on a livestreamed, partially virtual NARUC conference panel. State commissioners asked companies to do more to help them resolve customer complaints.
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska should propose connections-based contribution for state USF, said Matanuska Telephone Association (MTA) representatives in a presentation at the Regulatory Commission of Alaska’s virtual Wednesday meeting. Adopting a flat surcharge of about $2.20 monthly per voice connection would stabilize the fund and generate about $25 million in funding, said consultant and former FCC Wireline Bureau Deputy Chief Carol Mattey. Nebraska, New Mexico, Maine and Utah previously took that approach, she said. The proposed change should bring in enough money to restore Alaska USF distributions to frozen 2016 levels, said Kemppel Huffman’s Dean Thompson. MTA recommends independent governance of the state fund by either issuing a request for proposals to find a third-party auditor or restructuring the Alaska Universal Service Administrative Co. board to have independent members rather than telecom industry members as it does now, said Mattey. Allowing companies that contribute to and receive money from the fund to also administer it is unique to Alaska, she said. MTA plans to formally submit its proposal by Sept. 1, said Director-Legal, Regulatory and Government Affairs Ryan Ponder. RCA Chairman Bob Pickett said he wants to resolve AUSF changes well before the fund sunsets June 30, 2023, and expects an active fall in the AUSF docket (R-21-001). The Oklahoma Corporation Commission last week adopted connections-based contribution on an interim basis (see 2108050049).
Oklahoma could soon join a small and growing list of states adopting USF connections-based contributions. In Oregon, parties are discussing other rule changes, and in Texas, small rural LECs are taking the Public Utility Commission to court for not fully funding USF. Other states mulling changes include California and Kentucky.
Nebraska's Public Service Commission voted 4-1 to expand the state USF’s connections-based method for residential services to now include business and government lines. At another Tuesday meeting, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission delayed shifting to a per-line monthly surcharge from a revenue-based mechanism.
Big wireless carriers sounded the alarm about California considering a connections-based USF contribution mechanism. Some wireline companies and consumer advocates supported the change, in Monday comments at the California Public Utilities Commission. They highlighted ways to mitigate possible regressive impacts of moving from a revenue-based mechanism for California’s public purpose programs (PPPs). Oklahoma and Nebraska commissions may soon adopt state USF contribution changes, said agency officials in those states.
Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction winners must follow through on broadband promises, NARUC Telecom Committee members said in interviews last week. NARUC plans to vote at its Feb. 4-5 and 8-11 meeting on a draft resolution urging the FCC to scrutinize RDOF long-form applications (see 2101260033). Some commissioners raised doubts about fixed wireless and said they’re unfamiliar with entities that won federal dollars.
Texas legislators probably can’t quickly fix a state USF on the brink of collapse, a top state lawmaker told us Friday. The Public Utility Commission, which has been unwilling to make changes on its own authority, sought legislative guidance in a competition report this month. AT&T and cable companies agreed it's the legislature's job. Small telcos facing possible bankruptcy worry legislative relief won’t come fast enough, said Texas Telephone Association (TTA) Executive Director Mark Seale. Nebraska and Oklahoma commissioners could soon make USF contribution method changes after hearings this and last week.
The Nebraska Public Service Commission will mull changing state USF contribution in a Jan. 6 hearing at 10 a.m., members decided 4-0 Tuesday. One member was excused. The state commission is weighing a proposal in docket NUSF-119 to extend its connections-based mechanism to business and government services. Big carriers oppose that change (see 2009020032). The Oklahoma Corporation Commission could vote next week on changing state USF contribution from a revenue-based method to a connections-based mechanism with a 91 cents per line monthly surcharge (see 2008110047). An administrative law judge last month recommended changing to connections. Commissioners, scheduled to hold a hearing on exceptions to the ALJ recommendation next Tuesday, “might vote at the end of the hearing, or take the matter under advisement,” an OCC spokesperson emailed Monday. CTIA complained Oct. 30 that the ALJ barely discussed its views, including that the connections method may violate state or federal law and hurt poor or unemployed people (see 2008170054). AT&T, CTIA and the Oklahoma AG “place an outsized emphasis on potential changes to amounts contributed by customer classes and completely ignore the record concerning growing inequities under the current revenue-based methodology,” the OUSF administrator responded, posted Nov. 10. Meanwhile, in Texas last week, the Public Utility Commission again urged the legislature to deal with state USF, despite concerns by state lawmakers, small telcos and others that the fund may become insolvent without PUC action before the legislature meets in 2021 (see 2010160052). Texans paid more than $2.7 billion into TUSF over the past 10 years, so the commission “was reluctant, in the midst of a pandemic and economic downturn, to further burden the Texans who pay into the fund,” Executive Director John Paul Urban responded to four Texas House members who raised concerns. The PUC didn’t consider increasing the surcharge until funds nearly ran out because telecom companies who pay into TUSF didn’t “provide any insight into the drastic declines in reviews that abruptly occurred,” Urban said. “When Commission staff estimated the fee needed to support all the requested TUSF subsidies, they had to account for the downward trends in revenue and a depleting fund balance. These trends continue to worsen and the fund balance continues to deplete.”