Cable groups weigh in on USF reform

Two groups representing cable providers wrote to the Federal Communications Commission voicing their objections to a plan submitted last month by six leading telecom firms to reform the Universal Service Fund.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has asked for public input on the agency's efforts to shift the focus of the high-cost portion of the USF away from subsidizing landline phone connections in rural areas and towards fostering broadband Internet access. In response, the telecom carriers unveiled the America's Broadband Connectivity (ABC) plan last month, which attempts to achieve that goal. But American Cable Association President Matthew Polka and National Cable & Telecommunications Association President Michael Powell argue the ABC plan would advantage legacy local exchange carriers (LECs) at the expense of their members' firms and others attempting to provide voice services using VoIP and other, newer technologies. "We appreciate the contribution to the reform efforts that the incumbent LECs have made by developing these proposals," wrote Polka and Powell.

(Aug 23)