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 NEWS  News  media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  TTY  202  /  418-  2555  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974).  FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE:  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT: 
 June  13,  2002  David  Fiske  at  202-  418-  0513  Mike  Balmoris  at  202-  418-  0253 
 STATEMENT  OF  MICHAEL  POWELL,  CHAIRMAN  OF  THE  FCC,  REGARDING  DENIAL  OF  AT&  T  WAIVER  REQUEST  CONCERNING 
 UNIVERSAL  SERVICE  REFORM 
 Washington,  DC  –  I  support  the  Wireline  Competition  Bureau’s  decision  to  deny  AT&  T’s  request  to  alter  how  it  contributes  to  the  universal  service  fund.  The  waiver 
 request  –  if  granted  –  would  increase  the  universal  service  line  item  on  phone  bills  for  all  customers  of  AT&  T’s  competitors.  To  support  this  petition  would  be  to  shelter  one 
 particular  carrier’s  customers  from  the  evenhanded  application  of  our  rules  at  the  expense  of  customers  of  other  carriers.  Complex  problems  require  long  term  reform,  not  short 
 term  fixes. 
 The  Commission’s  effort  to  reform  how  we  collect  money  for  the  universal  service  fund  in  the  long  term  is  already  underway.  I  look  forward  to  working  with  my  state 
 commission  colleagues  and  interested  parties  to  ensure  that  our  assessment  methodology  continues  to  be  equitable,  nondiscriminatory,  and  predictable  and  that  it  is  sufficient  to 
 preserve  and  advance  universal  service  in  a  period  of  dynamic  and  fundamental  changes  in  the  telecommunications  markets. 
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