Top Hill Staff Getting Involved in Industrywide USF Talks
Top congressional staffers are lending a hand in the ongoing talks on an industry-endorsed Universal Service Fund reform proposal, telco and Capitol Hill officials said in interviews. Ray Baum, senior policy adviser on the House Communications Subcommittee and longtime friend of Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore.; Nick Degani, legal counsel to the subcommittee; and Brad Schweer, legislative director to Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb.; have all taken an active part in the industry talks in recent weeks, telco officials and Baum said. Since the November elections, Congress had steered clear of USF, focusing on net neutrality, spectrum, FCC reform and AT&T’s plan to buy T-Mobile. Walden earlier this month said he was “encouraged” by the FCC’s USF efforts, and urged industry to come up with a reform package soon (CD June 8 p5).
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Walden thinks now is the time to revamp USF, so that broadband is built out in high-cost areas, Baum said in an interview. “We're pushers on the process, but we're not telling [the FCC] what to do.” Hill staffers have alternately served as a resource -- most especially Baum, a former Oregon regulator and member of the Joint Board on Universal Service -- and brokers, suggesting different ways of reaching compromise in the arcane and sometimes fractious USF discussions, industry officials said.
There’s no legislation pending, but having Hill staffers involved in the talks has concentrated industry focus, telco officials said. Baum was one of the architects of the aborted “Missoula plan” aimed at Intercarrier compensation reform five years ago. Industry officials said he’s been instrumental in getting House Republicans to focus on universal service -- not only in Walden’s recent speech to Oregon and Washington telecom regulators, but in a recent USF data request signed by senior members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
"It’s always helpful to have input from a variety of participants and viewpoints,” an AT&T spokesman said. “Input from the Hill perspective can only help form consensus to update the outmoded FCC subsidy programs."
Walden’s office has been monitoring the industry meetings and has called in representatives of the negotiating group and the FCC to provide updates, Baum said. The talks have been a “two-way conversation” between industry and the Hill staffers, with Baum providing perspective and input, he said. Walden wants the FCC to operate within the existing fund size and look for savings, Baum said. But it’s the commission’s job to decide on the actual rules, he said.
Baum said he sees a “fundamental shift” in the industry’s attitude about USF reform since previous negotiations in which he was involved as a state regulator, including the Missoula plan and proposals by the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service. There’s a greater sense of urgency now than in previous years, because revenue from wireline termination fees has sunk dramatically due heavy line loss, and USF support has “flat lined,” Baum said: The industry has reached a “critical point,” and now’s the time to revamp USF.