Payphone operators made another pitch for emergency Lifeline support from...
Payphone operators made another pitch for emergency Lifeline support from the FCC, an ex parte notice posted Monday said. “In light of the financial plight of [payphone service providers], there is a need for prompt Commission action before there is…
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a further erosion in the base of installed payphones,” American Public Communications Council lawyer Al Kramer said during a meeting with Zac Katz, an adviser to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, and other officials. In the last two quarters, “another 50,000 payphones have been removed,” Kramer said, largely due to the expansion of wireless service under the Lifeline program. Although payphone operators “do not object to Lifeline support for mobile services, in many situations payphones can more efficiently and at a lower cost deliver services to a larger number of users than mobile services,” he wrote. Kramer told us staff “listened” to his appeal and seemed willing to “rethink Lifeline in a community context,” as his client is arguing. “But everybody emphasized that the Universal Service Fund is being rethought in a fundamental way and the emphasis is on broadband,” he said. Kramer also asked about longstanding petitions from payphone operators “regarding refunds of overcharges imposed … by the Bell Operating Companies,” said the filing in docket 96-128.