GTE proposes universal service plan

GTE last week launched an ad campaign in business and legislative publications that invites readers to request a copy of GTE's proposal for funding universal service.

In its proposal, the Independent recommends that all telecom customers pay a surcharge of about 3.4%, which would replace current high-cost funding to non-rural telephone companies and would allow interstate switched access charges to be reduced to about $0.008 a minute. Any amount remaining would be provided to the states.

The 3.4% surcharge would cost the average basic-service customer approximately 72 cents a month, GTE claims. Because a reduction in access charges would enable long-distance carriers to lower their costs, GTE estimates that the net effect on the average residential monthly bill would be a 60 cents decrease.

The telco also recommends in its proposal that competitive local exchange carriers have the opportunity to become the carrier of last resort for a geographic area through an auction process.

GTE claims that the current universal service system provides no incentive for competitive carriers to serve anyone other than the highest volume customers.