NTCA: Copps calls for new push on USF, broadband

SAN DIEGO—If Americans are living in rural markets are to partake in the future growth of the global economy, they must be given the same access to affordable broadband as urban counterparts, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said during a keynote address today.

Speaking at the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, Copps said one of the key issues that must be dealt with this year is a revamping of contributions to the Universal Service Fund. Copps added that the contribution rate to the USF will climb significantly next quarter and is starting to draw a lot more interest from Washington DC movers and shakers.

“With the growth of IP services and the expansion of any- distance plans, there are some real challenges to the system,” he said. “My overriding objective as a commissioner is to bring the best, and most cost-effective communications system to all Americans. Each and every citizen should have and must have all the wonders of the next generation of telecommunications services.”

Copps said he isn’t ready to commit to a numbers- or connections-based contribution method until the FCC gets answers on how such plans would impact low-volume users and rural consumers. Additionally, he said there was plenty to like in a revenue-based methodology that would expand the contributor base, a point that drew a standing ovation from the roughly 3000 attendees here.

At the same time, Copps noted that the Supreme Court’s decision in the Brand X case has opened up a lot of questions over what constitutes phone service and what consumers will expect.

“We have a lot of blanks to fill in about what happens when the phone someone is using is no longer called a telephone service,” he said. "Do consumers have a right to expect that their new phones will come with the same protections and safeguards? We have paid a terribly heavy price because of the semantic games. We have to get beyond these games.”

Copps then placed some of the blame for “a broken inter-carrier” compensation at the feet of the FCC.

“For too long the FCC choose the easy path of answering narrow questions on how to keep the current system running,” said. “Bubble gum and baling wire can only do the trick for so long. If we don’t move this along now, we will have lost a golden opportunity.”

Copps also called for much greater cooperation between the public and private sectors, saying that such collaboration is the only way to raise the broadband penetration rates, which stand around 30% in urban markets and 20% in rural areas.

“I don’t think America can afford to let anyone lose in this new age of global competition,” he said.