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In 2005 the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit remanded the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) definitions of sufficiency and comparability. The FCC's failure to properly define these terms has resulted in a federal universal service fund that is insufficient to achieve reasonably comparable rates between rural areas served by non-rural carriers (such as Qwest) and urban areas.
In 2008 the Wyoming Public Service Commission (PSC) joined in a Petition for Writ of Mandamus from the Tenth Circuit to require the FCC to define, at last, sufficiency and comparability in accordance with teh principles of ยง254(b) of the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996.
To resolve the mandamus proceeding, the FCC issued a Notice of Inquiry to be followed by a rulemaking proceeding.
The PSC filed initial comments urging the FCC to lower the funding benchmark for federal universal service to adequately account for the extreme poplulation dispersion characteristic of much of the state. The PSC filed reply comments on June 8, 2009.
The FCC commenced the rulemaking in December, 2009, and the PSC filed initial comments and reply comments. The FCC issued its decision on April 16, 2010. Responding to the PSC's arguments, the FCC ordered $2,370,629 in additional annualized universal service high-cost support for Wyoming ratepayers. The flow of additional funds will begin in the thrid quarter of 2010.
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