State regulatory commissioners reiterated concerns about quantile regression...

State regulatory commissioners reiterated concerns about quantile regression analysis -- currently used to calculate high-cost USF funding but expected to be phased out over time -- with FCC Wireline Bureau officials during a conference call last week, according to a NARUC ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1jQYTfw). “Several commissioners did express strong support for elimination of the QRA, as well as specifically endorsing the release of the data underlying the average urban rate calculation, and not allowing the new benchmark calculation to go into effect this year,” the ex parte filing said. The conference call included Wireline Bureau Deputy Chief Carol Mattey along with NARUC Telecom Committee Chair Chris Nelson, committee co-vice chairs Paul Kjellander and Catherine Sandoval, ex-NARUC President Philip Jones, Universal Service Joint Board State Chair Jim Cawley, Joint Board on Separations State Chair John Burke and other state commissioners. “There was also a brief discussion of closer collaboration on pending ETC [eligible telecom carrier] designations involving carriers seeking State designations that are under investigation by the FCC for non-compliance with the FCC’s rules,” the filing said.