FCC chairman faces growing pressure to delay votes

Nearly 75 members of Congress are urging the head of the Federal Communications Commission to delay next week's vote on a proposal to overhaul key pieces of telecommunications regulation, arguing that the matter should get public review. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin wants to significantly reorder the complicated menu of fees that phone companies pay to connect calls with each other's networks. He advocates more uniform, lower rates. The proposed changes are backed by the three largest phone companies, Qwest, Verizon, and AT&T. They argue that existing rules are outdated and based on obsolete regulatory distinctions. But the plan faces opposition from a broad coalition of competing carriers and rural phone companies, which fear it could erode the money they get for completing phone calls to their subscribers. And consumer advocates warn that it could lead to higher phone bills - particularly for rural customers - as phone companies seek to recover lost access charges from other sources.