Will FCC chairman postpone big vote?

The Wall Street Journal and Telephony both reported late Friday night that sources were indicating that the Federal Communications Commission may postpone a significant vote on changes to intercarrier compensation and the Universal Service Fund until December. However, as of this weekend, the FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's proposal for changes remained on the agenda for tomorrow's FCC meeting.

The WSJ attributed FCC sources and analysts at Stifel Nicolaus and Co. and Telephony attributed the latter, as saying that the four FCC commissioners on the five-member group want more time to review Martin's proposal, which became public only a few weeks ago. Martin is believed to be driving toward an Election Day vote on the matter tomorrow in part because the FCC faces a court deadline to justify intercarrier compensation as it relates to dial-up Internet access.

However, about 100 members of Congress and a number of other industry participants have urged the FCC to seek more public comment on the proposal. The other FCC commissioners also reportedly decided together last week to approach Chairman Martin with the suggestion to revise the proposal and plan a vote for mid-December, but Martin reportedly didn't agree to that idea.

An update on tomorrow's agenda could be forthcoming from the FCC at any time today.

For more:
- The Wall Street Journal has a report [1]
- Telephony's Unfiltered blog had this update [2] Friday

Related articles
Many in Congress want the FCC vote delayed [3]
The FCC chairman's proposal came to light weeks ago [4]