Idaho PUC Staff Says Legislature Should Revamp USF, Potentially Including VoIP
An Idaho USF task force should ask the Legislature to revamp universal service “in light of the fundamental underlying shift in telecommunications technology,” Idaho Public Utilities Commission staff recommended in a Wednesday report that followed a Jan. 17 PUC workshop…
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on the future of USF (see 1801170030). The commission lacks authority to change state USF without statutory changes, staff said. Landline use declined as wireless and VoIP usage increased, PUC staff said. “As the IUSF-assessed telecommunications services decline, so too does the balance of the Fund, making it increasingly difficult for the Fund to remain solvent and fulfill its underlying statutory intent.” Staff said “parties agree the IUSF is unsustainable without major changes to the statute and funding methodology.” VoIP and wireless providers “must contribute to the Fund if the Fund's purpose is to be maintained,” it said. “If the technologies and purpose underlying the Fund have changed so much that the notion of universal service should also change, Staff would support an update to the universal service statutory regime.”