COMPENSATION PROGRESS RAISES CHANCES FOR 2008 REVAMP WITH USF

摘要

The FCC will overhaul intercarrier compensation and the Universal Service Fund together, perhaps this year, Tom Tauke, Verizon executive vice president, told reporters. If revamping is "going to happen, it's going to happen in a package," Tauke said. Two months ago, he doubted that intercarrier reform could get done this year, he said. Taking compensation together with USF distribution and contribution is "a lot to swallow," but court pressure and growing industry consensus makes him optimistic, Tauke said. Now is the "last best chance" for the telecom and technology sector to ally and reform an "unsustainable" system, he said. nnVerizon and a coalition of major telecom and technology companies and industry groups want the FCC to put an overhaul of intercarrier compensation on a fast track. They have asked the FCC to assert federal jurisdiction over IP traffic and to set a uniform terminating rate not to exceed $0.0007 per minute. Rural local exchange carriers, many dependent on access charges, didn't sign the letter. It's not reasonable to expect those carriers to come aboard until the Verizon coalition specifies the new system mentioned in the letter, Tauke said. "We are in discussions with many of the rural carriers in an attempt to fashion an access replacement mechanism that could be acceptable to those carriers, and which might cause them to see the advantages of moving now."