The Rural Cellular Association accused Verizon Wireless of attempting to “leverage mobility funding” despite the carrier’s commitment to give up Universal Service Fund support following its purchase of Alltel. RCA made the charge after Verizon Wireless, in an FCC filing, urged mobility fund support for rural carriers that enter into Verizon’s LTE licensing program. “Increasing the level of support used to expand Verizon’s reach, whether directly or through affiliate programs, is the opposite of their commitment,” said RCA President Steve Berry. “If Verizon is serious about expanding mobile broadband in rural areas, they should live up to the spirit of the open access provisions of the C block and focus on devices compatible with all 700 MHz spectrum.” “RCA is wrong to suggest that Verizon Wireless is not honoring its merger commitment,” said Tamara Preiss, vice president of federal regulation at Verizon Wireless. “Verizon Wireless’s voluntary commitment is limited to phasing out high-cost support from legacy USF mechanisms. That condition is expressly superseded if and when the FCC adopts new mechanisms.” Preiss said Verizon was one of several carriers represented at a recent meeting at the FCC on the mobility fund. The FCC is slated to vote on a notice of proposed rulemaking on the fund at its meeting Thursday.

Politics shouldn’t hold up creation of a Digital Literacy Corps similar to AmeriCorps to teach digital literacy skills, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said in a Broadband US TV webcast Thursday. The proposed program would require funding from Congress, but Clyburn expects bipartisan support, she said. Meanwhile, the FCC is eager to implement provisions of an accessibility bill to be signed into law Friday afternoon, said Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Deputy Chief Karen Strauss.

Politics shouldn’t hold up creation of a Digital Literacy Corps similar to AmeriCorps to teach digital literacy skills, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said in a Broadband US TV webcast Thursday. The proposed program would require funding from Congress, but Clyburn expects bipartisan support, she said. Meanwhile, the FCC is eager to implement provisions of an accessibility bill to be signed into law Friday afternoon, said Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Deputy Chief Karen Strauss.

The Universal Service Fund should be used to subsidize broadband but the fund shouldn’t be expanded, the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators said Wednesday. The caucus also urged the FCC and other regulatory agencies to move quickly on smart grid technology. The caucus’s legislators spoke at a Wednesday briefing at the National Press Club, saying the fund should be “restructured” so it can pay for broadband deployment. The lawmakers demurred when asked what programs in USF should be cut.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said Wednesday he will seek the chairmanship of the House Commerce Committee if Republicans retake the House in the November elections. Barton’s top priority: stopping the FCC from reclassifying broadband and regulating the Internet, he said.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Republican gains wouldn’t have much effect on National Broadband Plan follow-through by Congress on matters such as spectrum allocation and the Universal Service Fund that don’t depend on how net neutrality and broadband reclassification play out, said the former official who led the FCC’s work on the project and industry lobbyists.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Republican gains wouldn’t have much effect on National Broadband Plan follow-through by Congress on matters such as spectrum allocation and the Universal Service Fund that don’t depend on how net neutrality and broadband reclassification play out, said the former official who led the FCC’s work on the project and industry lobbyists.

N.E. Colorado Cellular representatives met with various FCC officials to detail how money from the Universal Service Fund has helped the economy in parts of Colorado and Nebraska. “Federal support has helped the company build hundreds of cell sites, increase its employee count fourfold, and deliver high-quality services to many rural areas that have been unserved or underserved since the inception of cellular service twenty years ago,” said an ex parte filing by the company. Universal service support also let the company construct a microwave backhaul network that carries nearly 100 percent of its customer traffic “bypassing the wireline network,” and “laid the groundwork” for an upcoming 4G rollout.

Tea Party gains in the November election would mean more opposition to the FCC from Congress on net neutrality and other regulations for industry, Tea Party supporters said. “Any change in the composition of the House and Senate is only going to exacerbate that friction between [FCC Chairman Julius] Genachowski and Congress,” said Wayne Brough, chief economist of FreedomWorks, a Tea-Party organizer in Washington. CompTel CEO Jerry James said competitive local exchange carriers are watching the Tea Party movement, “as well as other changes potentially resulting from the mid-term elections that may impact telecom policy going forwards.”

Tea Party gains in the November election would mean more opposition to the FCC from Congress on net neutrality and other regulations for industry, Tea Party supporters said. “Any change in the composition of the House and Senate is only going to exacerbate that friction between [FCC Chairman Julius] Genachowski and Congress,” said Wayne Brough, chief economist of FreedomWorks, a Tea-Party organizer in Washington. CompTel CEO Jerry James said competitive local exchange carriers are watching the Tea Party movement, “as well as other changes potentially resulting from the mid-term elections that may impact telecom policy going forwards.”