The FCC shouldn’t comprehensively revamp intercarrier compensation or the universal service fund at its Nov. 4 meeting, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners said. In a Tuesday motion sent to commissioners, NARUC said the FCC should seek comment on the draft orders recently circulated by Chairman Kevin Martin. At the meeting, the FCC should answer only a court order to explain the legal basis for the agency’s ISP-bound traffic compensation issues, it said. “The 167 page detailed draft raises a host of issues that no-one -- including the majority of the FCC Commissioners that are expected to vote on the document in two weeks -- has had (or will have) time to fully assimilate,” NARUC said. Acting too quickly “will dramatically increase the odds of a successful appeal -- which will perversely delay reform which is clearly within reach,” it said.

Don’t extend cost-assignment forbearance to incumbent carriers Embarq, Frontier and Windstream, competitive local exchange carriers urged the FCC. Earlier this year, the FCC granted AT&T, Verizon and Qwest forbearance from the rules, which among other things require carriers to separate intrastate and interstate costs. Tuesday, CompTel, One Communications and TW Telecom opposed the mid-sized incumbents’ request for similar relief. The FCC “should not exacerbate its error in granting cost assignment forbearance to AT&T, Verizon and Qwest,” the CLECs said. If the FCC does extend relief, however, it should condition forbearance on the elimination of Universal Service Fund subsides that the requesting incumbents and Bells receive, they said. Also, the commission should give the carriers “more detailed” instructions on how to develop a compliance plan showing how they will give the agency usable accounting data at the agency’s request once the order takes effect, the CLECs said. The CLECs and others have slammed compliance plans submitted by the Bells.

A hybrid Universal Service Fund contribution mechanism using phone numbers and connections beats one using numbers and revenue, AT&T and Verizon said. The carriers, which would prefer a numbers-only mechanism, pitched an alternative hybrid method in a Monday FCC filing. That plan would levy a fixed $0.85 rate on assessable residential, wireless and business numbers, and establish a new “assessable connection” category, AT&T and Verizon said. Assessable connections up to 64 kbps would pay $5 per dedicated connection, with faster connections paying $35 per connection, the companies said. Adopting the alternate plan would cut consumer share of USF contributions to about 38 percent, they said. The business sector would pay about 62 percent of USF contributions. The portion of USF collected from special access and other dedicated connections would rise to 16 percent from today’s 8 percent, the telcos said. If the FCC exempts some from paying into USF by numbers, it shouldn’t do so in a way that would “require alternate calculation methodologies or that maintain [today’s] revenue methodology,” AT&T and Verizon said. Instead, the agency should adopt a reimbursement method “whereby the customer is billed and pays the full [charge] per number,” but then can ask the Universal Service Administrative Co. for a partial refund, they said.

Wireless carriers could see an immediate benefit of access charges remaining low if the FCC approves comprehensive changes to intercarrier compensation and the Universal Service Fund, a top AT&T regulatory official said Tuesday. In an interview, AT&T Senior Vice President Robert Quinn contested complaints by some wireless carriers that wireless has little to gain and much to lose if the FCC approves reforms proposed by Chairman Kevin Martin at the Nov. 4 meeting (CD Oct 21 p1). AT&T has not signed off on the intercarrier comp and USF proposals but is weighing them carefully, Quinn said.

Wireless carriers could see an immediate benefit of access charges remaining low if the FCC approves comprehensive changes to intercarrier compensation and the Universal Service Fund, a top AT&T regulatory official said Tuesday. In an interview, AT&T Senior Vice President Robert Quinn contested complaints by some wireless carriers that wireless has little to gain and much to lose if the FCC approves reforms proposed by Chairman Kevin Martin at the Nov. 4 meeting (CD Oct 21 p1). AT&T has not signed off on the intercarrier comp and USF proposals but is weighing them carefully, Quinn said.

A hybrid Universal Service Fund contribution mechanism using phone numbers and connections beats one using numbers and revenue, AT&T and Verizon said. The carriers, which would prefer a numbers-only mechanism, pitched an alternative hybrid method in a Monday FCC filing. That plan would levy a fixed $0.85 rate on assessable residential, wireless and business numbers, and establish a new “assessable connection” category, AT&T and Verizon said. Assessable connections up to 64 kbps would pay $5 per dedicated connection, with faster connections paying $35 per connection, the companies said. Adopting the alternate plan would cut consumer share of USF contributions to about 38 percent, they said. The business sector would pay about 62 percent of USF contributions. The portion of USF collected from special access and other dedicated connections would rise to 16 percent from today’s 8 percent, the telcos said. If the FCC exempts some from paying into USF by numbers, it shouldn’t do so in a way that would “require alternate calculation methodologies or that maintain [today’s] revenue methodology,” AT&T and Verizon said. Instead, the agency should adopt a reimbursement method “whereby the customer is billed and pays the full [charge] per number,” but then can ask the Universal Service Administrative Co. for a partial refund, they said.

The FCC shouldn’t comprehensively revamp intercarrier compensation or the universal service fund at its Nov. 4 meeting, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners said. In a Tuesday motion sent to commissioners, NARUC said the FCC should seek comment on the draft orders recently circulated by Chairman Kevin Martin. At the meeting, the FCC should answer only a court order to explain the legal basis for the agency’s ISP-bound traffic compensation issues, it said. “The 167 page detailed draft raises a host of issues that no-one -- including the majority of the FCC Commissioners that are expected to vote on the document in two weeks -- has had (or will have) time to fully assimilate,” NARUC said. Acting too quickly “will dramatically increase the odds of a successful appeal -- which will perversely delay reform which is clearly within reach,” it said.

As details emerge, wireless carriers generally see little to like in Universal Service Fund proposals circulated last week by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin for a vote at the Nov. 4 meeting, industry officials said. The proposal’s implementation would be hardest on small wireless carriers trying to qualify as eligible telecommunications carriers to receive USF monies, they said.

Wireline officials raised red flags about the FCC’s draft intercarrier-compensation overhaul the day after Chairman Kevin Martin unveiled it (CD Oct 16 p2). The plan isn’t publicly available, but industry officials in interviews said the package favors the largest carriers and hurts small and midsized companies. If the FCC adopts the plan as is, the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association may challenge it in court, said Dan Mitchell, NTCA legal vice president, in an interview.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin wants to add broadband obligations to the Universal Service Fund, move to numbers- based USF contribution and apply reciprocal compensation rates to all traffic, he said Wednesday. At a news briefing, the chairman said implementing his plan would “modernize” USF and intercarrier compensation for a broadband, IP-based world. Martin late Tuesday circulated a draft version of the plan, including a report and order, order on remand and further notice of proposed rulemaking. Commissioners will vote at the agency’s Nov. 4 meeting. If the item is adopted, it would apply to 48 states, exempting Alaska and Hawaii, Martin said.