FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski seems to prefer not to reclassify broadband transport as a telecom service and instead to keep it as an information service, as part of enacting the net neutrality rules he seeks, according to a high-ranking commission official who has been briefed about the recent stakeholder meetings on net neutrality and to other officials who have been represented at those gatherings or also been briefed. Genachowski appears to prefer to stick with the current Title I information service regime for broadband, especially if he can get ISP support for net neutrality rules that don’t include reclassification, commission, industry and nonprofit officials said.

Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., plans “no changes” to his bill to revamp the Universal Service Fund, he said in an interview last week. He hopes the bill, six years in the making, can be reintroduced early next session, he said. After the election defeat of Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., Terry is looking for a new Democratic co-sponsor.

Problems with the universal service fund and intercarrier compensation are “inextricably related,” so the FCC ought to focus on simultaneous reforms on the two matters, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association urged in recent meetings, according to an ex parte filing published late Thursday. The commission should use broadband data to “inform” its USF disbursements, “immediately adopt” proposals from the National Broadband Plan that would cap USF, eliminate high-cost support for competitive eligible telecommunications carriers, set “a low, uniform terminating rate for all traffic” and be careful to limit access replacement in high-cost support “to areas where it is actually necessary,” the association said in its ex parte. “Any new rules” for intercarrier compensation “should account for the transition to an all-IP world,” NCTA added in its filing.

Arkansas’ state Universal Service Fund is running low: Revenue in 2009 was $20.78 million vs. expense of $22.08 million, a recently released annual financial report by a third-party auditor said. Revenue was $20.35 million with expenses hitting $22.34 million in 2008. The fund, which pays out to 27 eligible carriers in the state, was hurt by a decline in revenue reported by operators that contributed to the fund, said Public Service Commission director John Bethel. He noted the assessment rate was raised from 1.75 percent to 2 percent to help cover costs. Payout to the carriers next year is estimated at $22 million. The fund doesn’t have a deficit now, Bethel said.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is trying to push back the Dec. 15 meeting to the 21st or 22nd, agency officials said Friday. That gives him an extra week to decide whether to schedule a vote on net neutrality rules, likely including provisions in legislation introduced by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., plus wireless. Meanwhile, Congressional Republicans took off their gloves and signaled they're ready for a fight should Genachowski push forward with net neutrality rules.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Advocates for stricter rules about the electromagnetic fields (EMF) created by wireless and electronic devices should seek rule changes at the municipal rather than federal level, said Lloyd Morgan, a senior science fellow at the Environmental Health Trust. San Francisco’s cellphone-specific absorption rate labeling ordinance could be a model for other cities, he said late Thursday. He was one of several EMF advocates who spoke to a standing-room only crowd about the public health and environmental risks associated with prolonged exposure to such electromagnetic radiation at an event co-organized by Electromagnetichealth.org. “Every city needs to start enacting legislation like San Francisco,” Morgan said. The wireless industry’s response -- a lawsuit and a decision to pull its conference from the city’s convention center -- could scare other cities off, he said.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is trying to push back the Dec. 15 meeting to the 21st or 22nd, agency officials said Friday. That gives him an extra week to decide whether to schedule a vote on net neutrality rules, likely including provisions in legislation introduced by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., plus wireless. Meanwhile, Congressional Republicans took off their gloves and signaled they're ready for a fight should Genachowski push forward with net neutrality rules.

Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., “will remain active” after he departs the Congress at the end of the year, he said in an interview last week. “I'm 64 but I feel pretty young … and I think I'm good for another 20 years doing something.” The outgoing House Communications Subcommittee chairman hopes Congress next year will finish bipartisan work he started on privacy, incentive auctions and a revamped Universal Service Fund.

Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., “will remain active” after he departs the Congress at the end of the year, he said in an interview last week. “I'm 64 but I feel pretty young … and I think I'm good for another 20 years doing something.” The outgoing House Communications Subcommittee chairman hopes Congress next year will finish bipartisan work he started on privacy, incentive auctions and a revamped Universal Service Fund.

Legislators from both parties doubted a Capitol Hill deal on net neutrality is possible in the near term. But the lawmakers from the House and Senate were upbeat on spectrum and privacy action, at a Politico forum Thursday. Spectrum and privacy are also priorities for President Barack Obama, said U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra.