FCC chairman Julius Genachowski has launched the Connect America Fund. The Connect America Fund outlines a plan to reform and modernise the Universal Service Fund (USF) and Intercarrier Compensation system (ICC). The pro-consumer plan will, if adopted by the commission, reform USF/ICC to offer expanded broadband infrastructure for millions of Americans beginning in 2012. In addition, the plan will deliver more value for the money for mobile consumers, increase private investment, and spur near-term and long-term job creation. In addition, the plan will provide dedicated support to extend mobile broadband to areas of the country that are currently shut out from the benefits of advanced mobile services. It will cut the number of Americans bypassed by broadband by up to one half over the following five years, and it will put the country on the path to universal broadband by the end of the decade. The chairman offered his plan to transition USF to a Connect America Fund. This fund would have two core goals. This includes enabling universal availability of broadband to homes, businesses and anchor institutions in unserved areas. The Connect America Fund would begin near-term build-out to hundreds of thousands of consumers in 2012, and would ultimately get broadband to the 18 million Americans. This also includes enabling universal availability of affordable mobile broadband through a new Mobility Fund, which would be part of the Connect America Fund. Deployment of mobile broadband would be extended to more than 100,000 road miles where Americans live, work, and travel.
Chairman Genachowski also introduced a competitive bidding process among providers for obtaining universal service support, which would transition over time to a competitive system for distributing Connect America Fund dollars. The proposed ICC reforms include three main elements including closing loopholes like phantom traffic and traffic pumping, and other arbitrage schemes like CMRS-in-the-middle, where some carriers divert wireline traffic to wireless networks to avoid paying ICC. The plan would also provide certainty about compensation for VoIP calls that either begin or end on the public switched telephone network. The second main element includes phasing down ICC charges over a measured but certain multi-year transition path, starting by bringing intrastate access rates to parity with interstate rates. The third element involves enabling companies to transition by employing a controlled recovery mechanism. The plan would permit some companies to receive transitional support from the Connect America Fund, but that support would be accompanied by obligations to serve the public as well as strong oversight and accountability.
Chairman Genachowski also introduced a competitive bidding process among providers for obtaining universal service support, which would transition over time to a competitive system for distributing Connect America Fund dollars. The proposed ICC reforms include three main elements including closing loopholes like phantom traffic and traffic pumping, and other arbitrage schemes like CMRS-in-the-middle, where some carriers divert wireline traffic to wireless networks to avoid paying ICC. The plan would also provide certainty about compensation for VoIP calls that either begin or end on the public switched telephone network. The second main element includes phasing down ICC charges over a measured but certain multi-year transition path, starting by bringing intrastate access rates to parity with interstate rates. The third element involves enabling companies to transition by employing a controlled recovery mechanism. The plan would permit some companies to receive transitional support from the Connect America Fund, but that support would be accompanied by obligations to serve the public as well as strong oversight and accountability.
