WASHINGTON, Oct 28, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Senators Urge Chairman Martin to Postpone Its Vote Until a Thorough Assessment Can Be Made on Potential Disadvantages to Rural Providers and Customers

A bi-partisan group of U.S. Senators has weighed in with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) expressing their concerns with the Commission's proposed order for intercarrier compensation and Universal Service Fund reform, which is scheduled for a vote on this coming Election Day on November 4th.

In a letter written by Senator E. Benjamin Nelson (D-NE) and co-signed by John Tester (D-MT), Max Baucus (D-MT), Christopher Bond (R-MD), Ron Wyden (R-OR), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Thad Cochran (R-MS), the Senators said that the FCC should, "postpone moving forward with this proposal until more steps have been taken to weigh the potential disadvantages to rural customers." The Senators also requested that "the proposal be published in the Federal Register, and the FCC seek public comment on these very important issues."

The letter also says, "While your stated goal is to encourage broadband deployment, we are concerned your proposal may actually hinder this process. While our home states and other states with large rural areas continue to make strides in expanding their wireless and broadband capabilities, there are still areas having no service or unreliable service. Agreeing to this intercarrier rate proposal at this time could curtail America's ability to continue to make those strides. Instead of rushing a proposal through which has not been open for public review, great care needs to be taken to craft a policy which is comprehensive in nature and mindful of rural telecommunications customers when dealing with intercarrier compensation and USF reform."

In addition to the letter from Senator Nelson and nine co-signers, Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Mary L. Landrieu (D-LA) and David Vitter (R-LA) have each sent individual letters to the FCC expressing their opposition to the order.

Curt Stamp, President of The Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance (ITTA) and member of the Coalition for Affordable Communications, expressed the Coalition's gratitude for the Senators' leadership on this issue: "We support reasonable, comprehensive ICC reform, but for this reform to be meaningful, all interested parties must have the opportunity for a thorough comment and deliberation process. This letter, along with the letter signed by 61 members of the House of Representatives yesterday, makes evident the substantial opposition, by members of both parties in Congress, to the FCC's move to rush a decision on telecom reform. The message from Members of Congress, consumer groups and thousands of individual consumers is clear: this Election Day, there should only be one vote -- and it should not be at the FCC."

The Coalition for Affordable Communications is an association of rural phone and broadband providers concerned with ensuring that American consumers and businesses continue to enjoy affordable telephone and broadband service. The CAC includes CenturyTel, Consolidated Communications, Embarq, FairPoint Communications, Frontier Communications, Iowa Telecom and Windstream Communications, who collectively serve more than 17 million customers in 42 states.

    Contacts:
    Kelly Sullivan / Annabelle Rinehart
    Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
    (212) 355-4449