FCC to release USF reform proposals

FCC TO RELEASE USF REFORM PROPOSALS
[SOURCE: Associated Press]
The Federal Communications Commission is set to release several proposals aimed at reforming a government-subsidized fund to offset costs of deploying telecommunications services in rural and under-served parts of the country. The agency will release three items suggesting a radical overhaul of the Universal Service Fund -- possibly as soon as later this week -- according to several FCC officials. The first will ask for feedback on a proposal long championed by Chairman Kevin Martin known as reverse auctions which would designate the company that asked for the least amount of assistance to receive financial assistance from the fund in any given geographic area. A second proposed change would address an issue known as identical support. Currently, the amount that qualifying wireless companies receive from the fund is based on the rates paid to wired-line telephone companies in the same area. But, the costs that wired-line companies face are far greater than those by wireless companies, and there have long been calls to address this discrepancy. The final notice to be released by the FCC will formally put out for comment several of the recommendations made last year by the Federal-State Board on Universal Service including a proposal that a portion of the fund to help pay for the costs of deploying broadband Internet networks across the country.
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