VON Coalition Backs Uniform Access Rates

Like the rest of the telecom industry, the VON Coalition is looking ahead to Nov. 4, the day the FCC is slated to vote on intercarrier compensation/Universal Service Fund (ICC/USF) reform. Unlike CLECs and RLECs, however, VON Coalition members want a uniform rate - the .0007 supported by Verizon Communications Inc. and others - for access charges and reciprocal compensation. That number scares CLECs and RLECs because it's far lower than the 10 cents or less they've been collecting. But such arbitrary rates open the door to taking advantage of the system, said Jim Kohlenberger, executive director of the VON Coalition. Nonetheless, he said intercarrier comp and the USF have to be fixed - the question comes down to how. "Part of where we see the problem is that today's system, for a rural provider, it subsidizes them and if they had instead moved to broadband and voice-over-IP, they lose that subsidy - so there's actually a disincentive for them to move to broadband," he explained. "That's one of the reasons why we think the U.S. is behind in broadband deployment."