NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association, the National Exchange Carrier Association, ITTA, the Eastern Rural Telecom Association, WTA-Advocates for Rural Broadband, Frontier Communications Corporation, and Windstream Communications, Inc. have jointly-filed an emergency petition for waiver asking the FCC to temporarily pause reductions, effective June 30, 2014, in intercarrier compensation (ICC) rates for originating intrastate toll Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) traffic. The petitioners request that the reductions be paused “until full implementation of the Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II mechanism, in the case of price cap carriers, or a tailored CAF mechanism for rural, rate of return-regulated carriers (RLECs), respectively.” In support of their request, the petitioners estimate that the rate reductions will result in a revenue shortfall for rural local exchange carriers exceeding $18.5 million, and a $14.5 million revenue shortfall for Frontier and Windstream.
