After two year appeal, BellSouth finally admits the FCC (in part) is heading in the right direction on Universal Funding.
BellSouth Withdraws Universal Service Appeal
November 25, 1998
ATLANTA, Nov. 24 /PRNewswire/BACKGROUND: On
May 8, 1997 the Federal Communications
Commission issued an order establishing the
Universal Service Fund as directed by the
Telecommunications Act of 1996. The Order
defined the parameters of the fund, set up a
process for incorporating input from state
public service commissions, and set
guidelines for the delivery of Internet access
and wiring to the nation's schools, libraries
and rural health-care providers.
On August 15, 1997, BellSouth (NYSE: BLS)
appealed the FCC's Order in the Universal
Service docket. On February 20, BellSouth
filed a joint opening brief with GTE and SBC
in the United States Court of Appeals for the
Fifth Circuit (New Orleans). The petitioners
asked the Court to declare unlawful the
FCC's decision not to implement universal
service reform prior to 1999 and the FCC's
allowance of competition to eliminate funding
that comes from implicit subsidies before the
establishment of an explicit support
mechanism.
As of today, BellSouth has withdrawn its
appeal of the FCC Order because it believes
that most major issues of the Order will be
resolved through the regulatory process in
place today. The company also believes
that, based on extensive research and audit
analysis on the education sector business
opportunities, and our long tradition of
supporting education, it is in the best
interest of BellSouth and its customers in the
education sector, to withdraw this appeal.
The following statement can be attributed to
Bill Barfield, BellSouth's associate general
counsel:
"The plan to withdraw from this appeal is a
business decision for BellSouth. While we feel
that the reasons we filed our appeal were
sound, we believe that the landscape has
changed since then.
"Universal service represents a changing
tableau. The FCC recently adopted a cost
model which is a first step in circumscribing
the new universal service fund. The
Joint-Board acted yesterday to respond to
the most recent issues that the Commission
referred to their consideration. The results of
this recommendation will be another
important piece to the universal service
puzzle. At the same time, the FCC has taken
steps to bring greater administrative
efficiency to the schools and library fund and
prioritize the fund's purposes. Because of
these recent events, BellSouth has decided
not to proceed with the appeal of the original
universal service order. We will continue to
evaluate the new determinations made by
the Commission and take such steps as may
be appropriate in the future.
"Based on these factors, we think that it is in
the best interest of our business and our
customers to withdraw this appeal."
SOURCE BellSouth Corporation
/CONTACT: Joe Chandler, 404-927-7420,
John Schneidawind, 202-463-4183, both of
BellSouth Corporation/ (BLS)
[Copyright 1998, PR Newswire]
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