Sprint, MetroPCS and Verizon are among several phone operators and associations that have asked the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider a mammoth order that enacts comprehensive reforms to universal service phone subsidies and the intricate system by which telephone companies pay one another to complete calls.
The United States Telecom Association, the Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance, the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association and the Rural Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers Serving Tribal Lands are some of the other organizations that have asked the FCC to reconsider its order, the agency disclosed Thursday.
The FCC said oppositions to the petitions for reconsideration must be filed within 15 days of the date of public notice of the petitions in the Federal Register; and replies to an opposition must be filed within 10 days after the time for filing oppositions has passed.
In November, the agency released its order on universal service and intercarrier compensation in one of the most significant communications reforms in modern times. The rules include the creation of a $4.5 billion broadband fund that the agency anticipates will expand broadband access to more than 7 million U.S. residents of rural areas over the next six years.
Like many significant communications rulemakings at the FCC, the fate of the order is uncertain because of likely court appeals to the federal bench. For example, the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association already has filed a challenge with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.
