O'Rielly Against Broadband Usage Fee for USF
FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly is open to contribution overhaul to support the USF but doesn't support adding a usage fee for broadband services, he said Tuesday in conversation with former Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth. Adding a fee to broadband could tip…
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the price of the service beyond the reach of some consumers, O'Rielly said. "Raising the cost could change adoption rates. It does matter." O'Rielly spoke about capping universal broadband funds at the Hudson Institute, where Furchtgott-Roth is director of Center for the Economics of the Internet. The FCC is taking comment through July 15 on an NPRM that would set a universal budget cap for the USF program and a joint subcap for the E-rate and rural healthcare programs. The lack of contribution change isn't due to lack of interest among industry and other stakeholders, O'Rielly said. Some state commissioners want to put a fee on broadband, but there hasn't been a meeting of the minds between the FCC and the states. O'Rielly remains opposed to that and is challenged to find new answers. "Please come to us" with new ideas, he told telecom executives Tuesday. He's open to debating fees for services that are "telecom-like," he told us, such as for conference calling. Perhaps unlike other commissioners in his party, O'Rielly said, he doesn't want to shrink the Lifeline program, but said it's necessary to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse to protect it.