Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV (1888PressRelease)
October 30, 2008 - Today AARP and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) independently sent letters to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) stating concerns regarding the FCC's proposed order on intercarrier compensation (ICC) and Universal Service Fund (USF) reform. Each group separately urged the FCC to postpone the November 4th vote in order to allow for public input and to ensure a sufficient review period for FCC commissioners and members of Congress.
AARP represents more than 39 million members age 50 and over in the United States. CWA is America's largest communications and media union, representing over 700,000 men and women in both private and public sectors.
In a letter to the commissioners, David Certner on behalf of AARP said, “There is more than enough agreement that both the ICC payment system and the USF system need to be reformed. However, the Commission has not met the standards of its own rulemaking process. Consequently, low income, low volume and elderly customers will be left to deal with much higher prices without the benefit of proper scrutiny or due diligence. A vote on this proposal – without reasonable time for review by all parties – has the potential effect of marginalizing the public’s interest, especially the interest of consumers who will see higher bills.”
CWA expressed their own concerns in a separate letter to the FCC. Writing on behalf of the over 700,000 members of CWA, Larry Cohen said, “CWA has long urged the Commission to reform the universal service subsidy to support broadband build-out and to establish a level playing field for intercarrier compensation. However, as currently structured, the draft proposal would have the unintended consequence of reduced investment in rural broadband. Therefore, CWA strongly urges the Commission to revise the current draft to ensure that rural customers of and workers employed by mid-sized rural carriers do not suffer a reduction in investment in high-speed networks and job cuts due to precipitous loss of access charge implicit subsidies. This is the time in which we need more, not less, support for job creation and investment in high-speed broadband in high-cost rural areas.”
The Coalition for Affordable Communications is an association of rural phone and broadband providers concerned with ensuring that American consumers and businesses continue to enjoy affordable telephone and broadband service. The CAC includes CenturyTel, Consolidated Communications, Embarq, FairPoint Communications, Frontier Communications, Iowa Telecom and Windstream Communications, who collectively serve more than 17 million customers in 42 states.
Contacts:
Dan Katcher / Annabelle Rinehart
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
(212) 355-4449
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