Rural Carriers Protest FCC Telephone Subsidy Reform

A U.S. Federal Communications Commission cap on rural telephone subsidies will cost jobs in rural areas and lead to higher prices for customers in those areas, a group of rural carriers said.

The FCC's cap on payments to some rural carriers, part of the agency's efforts to shift the focus of the giant Universal Service Fund (USF) from voice to broadband service, went into effect on Sunday. Members of the Rural Broadband Alliance, a trade group representing rural carriers, continue to push for the FCC to change the way it decides which carriers to cap.

Customers of the rural carriers will see new charges on their phone bills because of the caps, said Stephen Kraskin, the alliance's legal counsel. "Some of our companies have started job cut backs, some have frozen planned investments and related jobs, some are not filling jobs, and others are cutting back," he said in an email.

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