Industry officials urged Congress to reconsider many elements of USF support policy, despite lauding the broad principles that have guided it. House Communications Subcommittee Republicans issued a white paper last month (http://1.usa.gov/1pmX66c) asking several questions about USF, seeking responses by Friday. It was the fifth white paper the subcommittee issued as part of efforts to overhaul the Communications Act, an initiative announced in December. Initial responses, which the committee has not posted online but were shared with us, were on what parties considered necessary changes to the USF contribution mechanism.

Calls by education and library groups, and FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel in a speech Wednesday, to increase E-rate funding are running into opposition from telcos, in comments filed in the E-rate modernization Further NPRM. The Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance and USTelecom said they worry expanding E-rate could cut into other USF programs like the Connect America Fund.

Calls by education and library groups, and FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel in a speech Wednesday, to increase E-rate funding are running into opposition from telcos, in comments filed in the E-rate modernization Further NPRM. The Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance and USTelecom said they worry expanding E-rate could cut into other USF programs like the Connect America Fund.

FCC Inspector General David Hunt told a House Communications Subcommittee Wednesday that he has been unable to hire criminal investigators, despite recurring requests. Hunt said his office “initiated a discussion with management” on its need to hire investigators in early 2012, but has been unable to do so. Hunt also questioned FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s decision to set up a USF Strike Force under the Enforcement Bureau and whether its efforts duplicate work more properly handled by the Office of Inspector General (OIG).

FCC Inspector General David Hunt told a House Communications Subcommittee Wednesday that he has been unable to hire criminal investigators, despite recurring requests. Hunt said his office “initiated a discussion with management” on its need to hire investigators in early 2012, but has been unable to do so. Hunt also questioned FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s decision to set up a USF Strike Force under the Enforcement Bureau and whether its efforts duplicate work more properly handled by the Office of Inspector General (OIG).

The FCC “must tackle long overdue” USF contribution reform before thinking about expanding the E-rate budget to meet the goal of spending $1 billion annually for E-rate Wi-Fi connections in schools and libraries, ITTA said in comments filed Monday in docket 13-184. “Universal service contribution rates have jumped 60 percent under the current Administration,” it said, and the commission “can no longer ignore the pressure its decisions put on the” USF. Doing so would jeopardize other agency goals, including broadband development, and would increase costs “that are ultimately borne by consumers,” ITTA said. The FCC’s $2.30-per-square-foot E-rate funding formula for libraries “would result in the inequitable distribution” of funds, said a study commissioned by the Urban Libraries Council submitted in the same docket. The study found that unlike for rural, town and most suburban libraries, square footage is not an accurate indicator of library users or Wi-Fi costs, ULC said (http://bit.ly/1qZ6GM4).

The FCC “must tackle long overdue” USF contribution reform before thinking about expanding the E-rate budget to meet the goal of spending $1 billion annually for E-rate Wi-Fi connections in schools and libraries, ITTA said in comments filed Monday in docket 13-184. “Universal service contribution rates have jumped 60 percent under the current Administration,” it said, and the commission “can no longer ignore the pressure its decisions put on the” USF. Doing so would jeopardize other agency goals, including broadband development, and would increase costs “that are ultimately borne by consumers,” ITTA said. The FCC’s $2.30-per-square-foot E-rate funding formula for libraries “would result in the inequitable distribution” of funds, said a study commissioned by the Urban Libraries Council submitted in the same docket. The study found that unlike for rural, town and most suburban libraries, square footage is not an accurate indicator of library users or Wi-Fi costs, ULC said (http://bit.ly/1qZ6GM4).

The House Small Business Committee is gearing up to pepper FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler on Wednesday with a deluge of questions on a wide range of telecom and media topics, according to the 14-page GOP memo released Monday (http://1.usa.gov/1qXbzoR). It includes detailed sections about FCC history, broadband deployment and the role of NTIA; the Rural Utilities Service and USF; net neutrality; spectrum availability; and media consolidation and proposed mergers. Small Business has an FCC oversight hearing scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. in 2360 Rayburn and Wheeler “will discuss among other issues, broadband deployment, Universal Service Fund (USF) reform efforts, net neutrality, wireless spectrum availability, and increasing media concentration through mergers,” the memo said. It emphasized the implications of ongoing FCC actions for small businesses. “Depending on how the FCC addresses various issues raised in the [net neutrality] NPRM, the ability of small business to utilize the Internet for their retail operations could be affected,” the memo said. “Alternatively, small telecommunications carriers that provide broadband service could find their networks over taxed with burgeoning demand and no way to manage their networks.”

The House Small Business Committee is gearing up to pepper FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler on Wednesday with a deluge of questions on a wide range of telecom and media topics, according to the 14-page GOP memo released Monday (http://1.usa.gov/1qXbzoR). It includes detailed sections about FCC history, broadband deployment and the role of NTIA; the Rural Utilities Service and USF; net neutrality; spectrum availability; and media consolidation and proposed mergers. Small Business has an FCC oversight hearing scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. in 2360 Rayburn and Wheeler “will discuss among other issues, broadband deployment, Universal Service Fund (USF) reform efforts, net neutrality, wireless spectrum availability, and increasing media concentration through mergers,” the memo said. It emphasized the implications of ongoing FCC actions for small businesses. “Depending on how the FCC addresses various issues raised in the [net neutrality] NPRM, the ability of small business to utilize the Internet for their retail operations could be affected,” the memo said. “Alternatively, small telecommunications carriers that provide broadband service could find their networks over taxed with burgeoning demand and no way to manage their networks.”

It’s murky just who is bankrolling the efforts by national advocacy groups to generate hundreds of thousands of comments to the FCC in the net neutrality debate.