Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV (1888PressRelease)
October 28, 2008 - The Coalition for Affordable Communications (CAC), today applauded the letter sent by The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), calling for the FCC to postpone its November 4th vote on a yet unseen order that would dramatically restructure intercarrier compensation and the Universal Service Fund.
While the CAC supports meaningful and reasonable reform, it believes that the FCC’s proposed order would result in higher costs to consumers and would impede rural telecommunications and broadband investment across the country.
In its letter, NARUC, which represents state public service commissions, said, “Respectfully, in the wake of the credit crisis still reverberating throughout the U.S. economy, the FCC is rushing to resolve a thirteen billion dollar problem based on insufficient information, an inadequate record, and an incredibly compressed deliberative period. There is no need to do so.”
In a press release announcing its letter to the FCC, NARUC also stated, “While there is a need to fix these crucial programs as soon as possible, the FCC must give parties an
opportunity to comment before acting on the proposal on Nov. 4 – a few short weeks away…The proposal leaves too many unanswered questions and will have significant unintended consequences for the industry, consumers and the State regulators charged to protect them.”
Gene Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of FairPoint Communications, echoed NARUC’s concerns, particularly the impact of the proposed order on rural consumers and businesses saying, “This could ultimately result in substantially increased monthly service rates that will force many low income households and senior citizens in rural areas to choose between basic necessities and essential telecommunications services, including reliable 911 and broadband access. The proposed order will also hinder economic development efforts that are dependent on new and advanced telecommunications services, resulting in reduced job creation in rural areas in addition to likely job losses in the communications sector.”
Curt Stamp, President of Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance (ITTA) said, “Why rush through a vote on a national election day when Congress and consumers are otherwise distracted?” Stamp added, “The entire telecommunications industry is committed to working with the FCC to achieve comprehensive reform. With more time we believe that the industry and the FCC can do so successfully. If the FCC is allowed to adopt this order now, however, we may not have another chance to prevent irreparable harm to telecommunications customers, investment, employment, and economic development in states across America.”
The Coalition for Affordable Communications is an association of rural phone and broadband providers concerned with insuring 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:
Kelly Sullivan / Jeremy Jacobs
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
(212) 355-4449
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