USF Contribution Factor Reaches an All-Time High; Consumers Pay the Price
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:Lucy Tutwiler
December 15, 2011 (202) 449-9866
USF Contribution Factor Reaches an All-Time High; Consumers Pay the Price
Washington, DC – Yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) announced that the proposed universal service contribution factor for the first quarter of 2012 will be 17.9 percent, an increase of 2.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011 and a new record high. CCA is concerned that this record high factor poses an undue financial burden on consumers, especially considering that the FCC’s recent Universal Service Fund (USF) Order significantly underfunds wireless services.
In a statement, CCA President & CEO Steven K. Berry said, “It is extremely disappointing to see the FCC increase the universal service contribution factor to an all-time high, especially given the fact that the Commission just released its USF Order that greatly underfunds wireless services. Consumers should be outraged – the FCC is essentially asking them to continue to fund services they are choosing less and less each day.”
Berrycontinued, “It’s incredible, with these rates, to think the FCC just reformed USF. Unfortunately, until the FCC ties consumer choices to funding levels under the CAF and the Mobility Fund, consumers will continue to pay higher prices for technologies they are not choosing. The American consumer is choosing wireless, and it is hard to understand why consumers, in this economy, are being asked to bear this undue financial burden, largely to subsidize wireline networks.”
About CCA
CCA is the nation’s leading association for competitive wireless providers serving rural and regional areas of the United States. The licensed service area of CCA’s more than 100 members covers 95 percent of the nation.
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