The FCC should declare that it preempts states when regulating AT&T U-verse VoIP and other fixed-location VoIP services, AT&T said. In a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, AT&T asked the FCC to extend to other VoIP carriers a 2004 order saying that the commission -- and not states -- should decide what regulations apply to Vonage. AT&T cited wide “uncertainty over the scope of the Commission’s decision and, in particular, whether the preemption principles articulated in that decision foreclose state entry and tariff regulation of facilities-based VoIP service.” Also, the FCC should declare that VoIP providers must contribute to the Universal Service Fund, Telecom Relay Service fund “on the same basis as other comparable service providers,” AT&T said.

The FCC should declare that it preempts states when regulating AT&T U-verse VoIP and other fixed-location VoIP services, AT&T said. In a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, AT&T asked the FCC to extend to other VoIP carriers a 2004 order saying that the commission -- and not states -- should decide what regulations apply to Vonage. AT&T cited wide “uncertainty over the scope of the Commission’s decision and, in particular, whether the preemption principles articulated in that decision foreclose state entry and tariff regulation of facilities-based VoIP service.” Also, the FCC should declare that VoIP providers must contribute to the Universal Service Fund, Telecom Relay Service fund “on the same basis as other comparable service providers,” AT&T said.

A comprehensive intercarrier-compensation revamp might not be possible by Nov. 5, FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said Wednesday at a Quebec, Canada, conference of the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies. Chairman Kevin Martin has promised a complete overhaul by then (CD July 14 p2). “I'm not sure we're really going to,” Adelstein said, predicting that the work may be broken up. If it is, the FCC should tackle phantom traffic, a “growing problem,” right away, he said.

The FCC needs a long-term overhaul policy for the Universal Service Fund, FCC Commissioner Deborah Tate told an OPASTCO conference Monday in Quebec, Canada. It’s “critical” that a revamp “strikes a balance between the costs of advancing our national telecommunications infrastructure and the costs consumers are willing to bear,” she said. The current USF surcharge on interstate calls is 11.4 percent, she said.

The FCC should cap federal interstate access charges for rate-of-return carriers at today’s rates while considering Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation overhauls, said the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association. The group was responding to a May 2 FCC request to refresh the record on USF and intercarrier compensation. Access costs unrecovered under the capped rates “should be recovered from interim USF funding as another component of Interstate Common Line Support,” NTCA said. The action likely won’t swell the fund because the FCC has capped USF support for competitive eligible telecommunications carriers and is looking to kill the identical support rule, which bases CETC subsidies on incumbent costs, NTCA said. “This decisive FCC action now will preserve and advance universal service in high-cost and rural areas, will provide a specific and predictable universal service mechanism and will provide a reasonable cost recovery mechanism for rate of return carriers for the foreseeable future,” the NTCA said. It also urged the FCC to create a timeline to shift the universal service system from Public Switched Telephone Network technology to IP broadband.

The Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance lauded GAO (CD July 11 p1) for condemning FCC management of the Universal Service Fund. “ITTA has long advocated that carriers serving rural and high-cost areas should receive universal service support regardless of the size of the carriers where USF is necessary to ensure the viability of the underlying telecommunications network and affordable consumer rates,” ITTA President Curt Stamp said. “We are encouraged that the GAO report recognizes this goal and are hopeful that Congress and the [FCC] will heed this message as we develop meaningful USF reform.”

Six high-tech trade groups urged a federal appeals court to uphold exclusive federal jurisdiction over VoIP and not let states adopt potentially conflicting mandates for VoIP providers. The friend-of-the-court brief was submitted by VON Coalition, CCIA, Telecom Industry Association, Info Technology Industry Council, Info Technology Association of America and Fiber to the Home Council to the 8th U.S. Court of Appeals, St. Louis. The court is considering appeals of a Nebraska Public Service Commission order to VoIP provider Vonage to pay into the state universal service fund (Case 08- 1764). The tech groups said VoIP differs fundamentally from traditional telephony. Allowing states to adopt their own regulations on any aspect of VoIP would create barriers that undermine public benefits from the lower prices and advanced capabilities VoIP can deliver, they said. The groups said Pennsylvania and other states decided state VoIP regulation would jeopardize economic benefits and passed laws denying state jurisdiction over VoIP providers. The groups said the public would benefit most from a “consistent national policy framework” promulgated solely at the federal level.

The Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday approved a bill recommending $341 million for the FY 2009 FCC budget. It also admonished the agency for inadequate oversight of the universal program. The FCC needs to do a better job with the program, the committee said. Members also ordered the FCC to report on the feasibility of a broadcast “code of conduct” for foul language, sexual content and violence. They also sought a study of commercially supported broadcasting on public school buses.

Six high-tech trade groups urged a federal appeals court to uphold exclusive federal jurisdiction over VoIP and not let states adopt potentially conflicting mandates for VoIP providers. The friend-of-the-court brief was submitted by VON Coalition, CCIA, Telecom Industry Association, Info Technology Industry Council, Info Technology Association of America and Fiber to the Home Council to the 8th U.S. Court of Appeals, St. Louis. The court is considering appeals of a Nebraska Public Service Commission order to VoIP provider Vonage to pay into the state universal service fund (Case 08- 1764). The tech groups said VoIP differs fundamentally from traditional telephony. Allowing states to adopt their own regulations on any aspect of VoIP would create barriers that undermine public benefits from the lower prices and advanced capabilities VoIP can deliver, they said. The groups said Pennsylvania and other states decided state VoIP regulation would jeopardize economic benefits and passed laws denying state jurisdiction over VoIP providers. The groups said the public would benefit most from a “consistent national policy framework” promulgated solely at the federal level.

NCTA said it generally supports a proposed universal service bill introduced by the ranking members of the House Commerce Committee and Telecom Subcommittee. “We believe it provides a solid foundation” on which to begin discussions, said NCTA President Kyle McSlarrow. The group supports an overall cap on the size of the fund, approves the bill’s proposal asking the FCC to consider alternatives to current rules on contributions, and prohibit assessments on broadband transmission or Internet access services. NCTA has “long supported basing provider contributions to the universal service fund on assignment of telephone numbers rather than the current revenue-based contribution method,” McSlarrow said. The reverse auction provision, however, includes “myriad significant details that would need to be resolved in order to ensure” the auctions promote broadband development in “truly” high-cost areas. “We believe that the focus of USF support should continue to be on the provision of voice services, with any additional supported services limited to schools, libraries and health care providers,” McSlarrow said. While government can play a role in helping to widen broadband deployment, those goals are best achieved with “tax credits or tax incentives to providers that build out in unserved areas, rather than by increasing the universal service burden on voice service providers… or by interfering with the market by providing subsidies in ‘unserved’ areas,” he said.