Emergency USF cap draws fire

EMERGENCY USF CAP DRAWS FIRE
[SOURCE: RCRWireless News, AUTHOR: Jeffrey Silva]
The cellphone industry blasted a federal-state panel’s recommendation to enact an emergency cap on universal service fund support for carriers in rural areas. The proposed temporary fix for the ballooning high-cost fund -- which provides about $4 billion in subsidies to wireline and wireless carriers in rural locales -- would hit wireless carriers the hardest because most eligible telecommunications carriers receiving support are wireless operators. “Almost three years after being assigned the task of developing recommendations to reform the high-cost universal service system, the Joint Board has missed the mark,” said Steve Largent, president of cellphone association CTIA. “The Joint Board’s bias toward legacy wireline networks will undoubtedly disadvantage rural consumers, the majority of which now view wireless as their primary mode of telecommunication. In neglecting to propose a comprehensive set of technology-neutral, market-oriented reforms to the high-cost universal service system, the Joint Board has effectively told rural consumers that they don't deserve high-quality wireless services."
http://www.rcrnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070502/FREE/70502009/1005/rss01

* CTIA ­ The Wireless Association® Criticizes Anti-Consumer Universal Service Cap Proposal
http://www.ctia.org/media/press/body.cfm/prid/1689

* FCC Board's USF Stance Ruffles Feathers
http://38.118.71.136/njtelecomupdate/2007/05/fcc_boards_usf_stance_ruffles.html#more