Robert Stien, telecommunications counsel for Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.), estimates it will take up to five years to get a bill passed through the House of Representatives and the Senate.
“Getting all the ideas and desires of 425 members [of the House] onto a piece of paper naturally takes time,” Stien says. “We would love to get this done in as short a time as humanly possible.”
Stien says his boss wants to assemble a panel of experts from every facet of the industry to discuss the issue.
“We are honestly looking for ongoing discussion for a period of time with members of Congress, members of the industry to come up with legislation that solves as many problems as we can,” he says, adding his office hopes the House and Senate will begin hearings this year.
The primary purpose of the USF is rather elementary: guarantee all 293 million Americans affordable access to telecommunications services. Lawmakers and regulators wish managing the multibillion dollar fund was that simple.
To oversimplify the problem, the formula used to support the fund — requiring phone companies to contribute a percentage of their interstate and international revenue — is outdated because the predominance of cell phones, e-mail and other technology has replaced billions of minutes in traditional long-distance phone calls. There are other forces at work vexing Washington policymakers. For example, mobile carriers expanding into rural America are eager to dip into the giant pot of money.
The federal agency principally charged with solving these problems has initiated proceedings to write new rules governing the fund, including regulations stipulating the method by which carriers must contribute to it. But the FCC can do only so much within the confines of the law.
Randy Tyree, director of legislative and industry affairs with the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies (OPASTCO), says his group understands lawmakers are working to introduce various reforms.
But he says reforming the fund is a highly controversial and complex undertaking, and many of Congress’ constituents don’t understand the issue. Plus, it’s a presidential election year and there are only 107 working days in Congress — half the normal number. Translation: writing complex telecom legislation is not on the top agenda of the 108th Congress.
Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) |
Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) has been among the most active lawmakers working to reform the fund. Speaking in February at a telecom breakfast with The Hill newspaper, Burns outlined the broad principles he supports, saying in part he wants to “develop a contribution recovery process that is fair and readily understood by consumers.”
Last year, Burns hosted two summits discussing the contribution methodology and challenges facing the fund, says Matt Brill, senior legal advisor to FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy. FCC commissioners and industry members participated in the summits.
Burns spokeswoman Jennifer O’Shea says topics discussed at the roundtables will help the senator craft legislation.
“At this point, no legislation has been introduced and it’s too premature to predict what would be included,” O’Shea says, adding, “Sen. Burns has said he hopes to introduce something this year.”
During a luncheon with the United States Telecom Association (USTA) in late January, Sen. Ted Stevens (RAla.) discussed the fund. “He remarked that more and more people are using universal service and fewer and fewer people are paying, due to wireless and broadband,” says Stevens’ spokeswoman Courtney Schikora. Following the speech, USTA President and CEO Walter McCormick Jr., remarked in a statement, “Sen. Stevens’ comments made clear his desire to modernize the nation’s telecom laws. He pledged to safeguard universal service in order to ensure this is not a nation divided between urban and rural.”
Telecom lawmakers probably will look at more than reforming the USF in coming years. Congressman Joe Barton (R-Texas) recently said he was holding out hope Congress would revisit the Telecom Act — and is expected to be in a high-ranking position to help make that happen. As xchange was going to print, Barton was close to being named chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce following the resignation of Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.).
“We’ve not had the best implementation of the Telecom Act from the FCC,” Barton told industry executives at USTA’s annual convention in October. “We wanted to have facilities-based competition, but as most of you know, it didn’t work out that way.”
