Universal Service Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in calculating Federal universal service support for eligible telecommunications carriers that serve rural, insular, and high cost areas, to revise its support mechanism for high cost areas to provide support to each wire center in which the incumbent local exchange carrier's average cost per line for such center exceeds 3.75 times the national average cost per line. Requires the FCC to provide support for each State equal to the greater of the amount calculated under the FCC's current support mechanism for high cost areas or the amount calculated above. Limits per State support and total support for all States.
Requires the Comptroller General to report to Congress on the need to reform the high cost support mechanism for rural, insular, and high cost areas.
States that nothing in this Act shall affect the support provided to rural telephone companies.
Actions
Apr 10, 2003
Referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.
Apr 3, 2003
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.