A “deep need for fundamental reform” of the Universal Service Fund should inspire action on the “practical” proposals by the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, FCC Commissioner Deborah Tate said at a Federalist Society forum Tuesday. A USF revamp is an “overarching public policy issue” that isn’t likely to make one of David Letterman’s top ten lists, but it “probably should because it affects everyone,” Tate said. She co-chairs the joint board, which issued recommendation in November. “We just need to get on with it,” she said.
The FCC seeks $338.8 million in its FY 2009 budget, with $25.5 million set for an inspector general’s oversight of the Universal Service Fund, according to budget documents released Monday. The budget also includes $20 million to educate consumers about the 2009 digital transition, money that would be spent on media tours, public service announcements, direct mail campaigns and other public education activities. The commission also is seeking $1 million for a clearinghouse program to expand outreach to police and fire agencies.
Solveig Singleton, ex-Progress and Freedom Foundation, joins Institute for Policy Innovation as adjunct fellow, focusing on intellectual property and communications policy… Marc Gonzales, ex-aide to Rep. Gene Green, D- Texas, becomes USTelecom vice president, congressional affairs… Cheryl Idell, ex-Twentieth Century Fox, joins Nielsen as executive vice president, media product leadership… Elinor Hirschhorn, ex-College Sports TV, moves to Simon & Schuster as executive vice president, chief digital officer… New at Telecom Industry Association: Taly Walsh, ex-InfoComm International, becomes vice president- marketing and business development; Nicholas Fetchko, ex- State Department, as director, international and government affairs… VoIP company deltathree names Lior Samuelson, Mercator Capital, board chairman.
Broadband deployment could get a boost from the economic stimulus bills moving through Congress, USTelecom President Walter McCormick told Senate leaders Tuesday, shortly after the House passed its bill (HR-5140) 385-35. McCormick urged the Senate to repeal the telephone excise tax, pass a temporary provision to encourage “repatriation of cash earned by foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies for use in the U.S. economy,” and approve a 50 percent bonus depreciation. The depreciation provision would increase incentives for businesses to invest in fiber, he said. The cash repatriation provision could drive “significant sums of foreign earnings” back to the United States, which USTelecom members could use for broadband deployment. “We agree that any stimulus package should be immediate, temporary and cost- effective,” McCormick said.
Work on a mammoth five-year farm bill (HR-2419) probably will start next week, as conferees are named after the Senate returns. USTelecom said Wednesday it is pleased that so many of its suggestions are reflected in the bill. The group praised a Senate provision making Connect Kentucky, a state broadband program, the model for a national effort.
Representatives of telecom companies of all sizes met Tuesday with FCC commissioners to push an interim cap on Universal Service Fund subsidies to competitive telecom companies. Representatives of Embarq, Verizon, Windstream, the Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance, the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies and USTelecom told commissioners in separate meetings that the interim cap would be a first step toward stabilizing the fund while the commission devises a longer-term way to slow its growth. One representative said the companies making that case vary on how to reform the fund but agree that the cap is the way to start.
USTelecom asked the FCC to extend the comment period on a petition by Feature Group IP asking the FCC to forbear from applying access charges to IP traffic. Delaying comments would give the FCC time to combine this petition with one filed Friday by Embarq asking the FCC not to exempt IP-based voice providers from access charge payments (CD Jan 14 p1). USTelecom recommended delaying the deadline for comments from Jan. 17 to Feb. 19 and for replies from Feb. 19 to March 14. “The importance of these issues to the public interest in broadband networks and the Commission’s broadband policies strongly militate” toward combining the petitions, the group said. That would treat them “holistically,” conserving FCC resources, USTelecom said. It also would let parties file one set of comments on the “interplay” between the petitions and provide “more precise and focused legal and policy analysis,” USTelecom said.
It’s unclear whether a national cable ownership cap approved 3-2 at last month’s commissioner meeting (CD Dec 19 p1) will apply to all cable and telecommunications companies selling TV, said industry officials. It’s clear that the cap limits to 30 percent the number of all satellite, telco-TV and cable subscribers a cable operator can have, said industry and FCC officials. Less certain is how the as-yet- released rule will apply to telecommunications companies. Satellite companies won’t be capped, said FCC officials and cable lawyers.
Communications and Internet companies have given $47,000 in PAC contributions to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for his 2008 presidential run, a pittance compared with the total $30.4 million McCain has amassed. But that’s the most the industries have given to any candidate this campaign, according to CQ’s Political Moneyline and Federal Election Commission reports. The communications industry will give much more as the contest heats up if historical patterns hold.
President Bush said Thursday he is “disappointed” that Congress failed to pass bills immunizing telecom providers for their alleged roles in a post-Sept. 11 warrantless wiretapping program. “The first priority of Congress when it returns in the new year must be to pass a good bill and get it to my desk promptly,” Bush told a press briefing. “They have a duty to give our professionals the tools necessary to protect the American people.”