Nomadic VoIP Must Pay State USF, FCC rules
Nomadic VoIP providers will have to pay into state Universal Service funds as well as the federal USF, the FCC ruled Friday. In a 5-0 declaratory ruling published late Friday, the commission ruled in favor of a request by the Kansas and Nebraska utilities commissions. That would let states assess USF fees on nomadic VoIP.
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The order had been expected since September, when Kansas and Nebraska amended their petition by deleting language that would have allowed states to assess fees retroactively. State officials have suggested that they may still seek retroactive fees (CD Sept 21 p6). Friday’s order is “prospective” and applies “to future intrastate revenues,” it said. “Because the amended petition seeks a declaratory ruling with prospective only effect and does not present the question of retroactivity, we need not and do not reach that question.” The eighth floor made clear to Kansas and Nebraska that the commission is ruling only prospectively and any effort to assess the fees retroactively “will not be smiled upon,” an FCC official said.
Nomadic providers, most especially the VON Coalition, had tried for weeks to ward off Friday’s order. Executive director Glenn Richards is relieved the commission eliminated retroactivity and he said that he’s hopeful this means the FCC will take a more active role in regulating VoIP, he said. He and colleagues “have been arguing forever” that the FCC ought to step in, Richards said. “If you read the orders that the states are issuing, it’s very clear that the states don’t believe they're preempted on certain forms of voice over IP.” The ruling comes as states are taking a hard look at VoIP questions (CD Oct 27 p6).
Friday’s ruling is “right on the law and right for consumers,” the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners said. “It assures, as Congress intended, that nomadic Voice-over-Internet Protocol providers join other carriers supporting critical State universal service programs. This is a significant decision and we applaud the FCC for moving forward.”