FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has caved to the pressure. The agency announced Monday afternoon commissioners will not follow through with the scheduled Election Day vote on proposed, controversial intercarrier compensation/Universal Service Fund (ICC/USF) reform.
The cancellation is a blow to Bell companies. AT&T Inc. (T), Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q) all had backed the draft order because, from the information that leaked out of the FCC, it favored them over CLECs, RLECs and consumers. Opponents of the proposal had gone so far as to accuse the FCC of allowing the Bells to help write the overhaul, an allegation the agency denied.
Martin told the Associated Press on Nov. 3 he wasn’t able to secure votes from the other four commissioners. He said they want to put the draft order out for comments, a move he had resisted. It’s telling that Martin couldn’t secure his fellow Republicans’ support in advance of a vote – it indicates serious discomfort with the details, which no one but FCC commissioners have seen.
The terminated vote further leaves Martin struggling to put a positive stamp on his legacy. He started his tenure at the FCC as a commissioner dedicated to competitive principles. He even was named a “Champion of Competition” by COMPTEL in the spring of 2004. But once he was appointed chairman, Martin started to prove his bias for big business and deregulation – think mergers that have led to the near-reformation of Ma Bell. Think approval of sweeping forbearance petitions, some of which haven’t been released to the public so only the recipient knows the extent of the exceptions. Think his support of a numbers-based USF regime; that would have slammed CLECs’ wallets because they tend to serve SMBs, not residents, and those customers often buy dozens of lines. Think support of reverse auctions, which would have allowed the lowest bidder to enter a service territory with USF money. Opponents said that approach would result in subpar buildouts.
Throughout his time at the FCC, Martin has spoken of fixing ICC and USF. The docket goes back to 2001. But it was only late this summer that Martin decided to push an overhaul in just a matter of weeks. He said the short timeframe was due to a federal court mandate for an FCC vote on an ISP remand by Nov. 5. Detractors, though, said that was no excuse for forcing overall ICC/USF reform. They said there was too much at stake, too much to consider and, the kicker was, they hadn’t been privy to the proposed changes.
Over the past two weeks, service providers, associations, states, Congress and consumer activists have banded together to lobby the FCC to hold off on this ICC/USF vote. That the cancellation comes less than 24 hours before the FCC meeting shows just how hard Martin tried to keep the matter on the agenda.
Republicans Robert McDowell and Deborah Tate, and Democrats Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, released a joint statement late Monday afternoon in response to the aborted ICC/USF vote. They said they were disappointed that Martin removed the reform item altogether; they had asked him to wait until next month to hold a vote.
