VoIP could speed the day when universal service is used to fund b...
VoIP could speed the day when universal service is used to fund broadband services in rural communities, FCC Comr. Adelstein said Thurs. at a media breakfast. Asked if he supported the use of universal service for broadband deployment, Adelstein…
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said the Telecom Act clearly says that “advanced services” such as broadband are “covered” by universal service funding but the “time has to be right” for such a decision by the FCC. VoIP could make that happen, he said: “If VoIP becomes the industry standard for telephone service and the person who has VoIP is able to get e-mail, conferencing, call forwarding… and if people in rural areas can’t have that because they don’t have broadband, then they're not getting comparable service” as required by the Telecom Act: “Then there would be no choice but to add broadband.” Asked about the commercial negotiations the FCC has asked industry to undertake to set UNE-P prices and terms, Adelstein said “there hasn’t been as much progress as we hoped… but on the optimistic side, these things sometimes come to a head in the last weeks, so maybe there will be a flurry of activity.” Asked if he thought the FCC should eventually seek U.S. Supreme Court review of the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., ruling that overturned the FCC’s UNE-P rules, Adelstein said “it depends on the nature of the agreements” reached by companies. He said he still believed the D.C. Circuit “erred” in overturning the FCC’s UNE-P decision but “we need to see the nature of the agreements -- if they are comprehensive.”