As expected, Senate Communications Subcommittee Chmn. Burns (R-Mo...
As expected, Senate Communications Subcommittee Chmn. Burns (R-Mont.) introduced bill that would remove caps and limitations on universal service support by amending Sec. 254 of Communications Act. S-500, which is co-sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Daschle (D-S.D.)and Democratic Sens.…
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Baucus (Mont.), Dorgan (N.D.) and Lincoln (Ark.) would: (1) Eliminate restrictions on size of high-cost support (2) Lift caps on how much universal funding individual service providers could receive. (3) Prevent FCC from enforcing or reimposing “caps or limitations on support mechanisms for rural telephone companies or exchanges they acquire based on fund size or other considerations unrelated to the sufficiency of support.” Burns said bill “would provide rural telephone companies with the resources they need to provide their customers the same high-speed Internet services that families living in urban areas enjoy.” Staffer said fact that bill had 4 Democratic co-sponsors and no Republicans “should not be read into too deeply” and Burns said expected full bi-partisan support “A lot of folks [from Congress] in rural areas obviously are interested in high-speed broadband deployment,” staffer said. Gary Lytle, USTA interim pres., said bill would enable companies “to make critical network upgrades and provide a platform they can build on” to deliver advanced services. National Telephone Coop Assn. (NTCA) said lifting of caps was “long overdue.” NTCA Pres. Michael Brunner said “small independent telecommunications carriers lost out on $130 million last year in vital support due to these caps.” Bill was referred to Senate Commerce Committee.