AT&T collects the most from FCC fund

AT&T has received the most money over the last three years from a federal fund subsidizing the cost of telephone service in areas where it is especially expensive, such as in insular towns in the countryside.

AT&T received $1,302,540,713 between 2007 and 2009 from the universal service high-cost program, a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fund. Verizon ranked second, receiving $1,275,473,981.

The next recipients were CenturyTel, AllTel (acquired by Verizon in 2009), Telephone and Data Systems, Windstream, Frontier Communications Corporation, and Sprint. Verizon shot past AT&T in 2009 after it acquired AllTel.

The ranking was released on Thursday by the bipartisan leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who had requested the data from the FCC in a June letter.

The high-cost program provides $4 billion per year to telecommunications companies across the country. All carriers that provide service internationally and between states pay contributions into the universal service fund. Some providers are net payers, contributing more than they receive.

The committee's request coincides with an effort by the FCC to reform the program, transitioning it to subsidize broadband rather than telephone service. The reform proposal would also place a cap on the growth of the fund.

Major providers such as AT&T and Verizon have backed the proposal; rural phone companies are less enthusiastic. 

"The industry should support this proposal," Kathleen Grillo, Verizon senior vice president of federal regulatory affairs, said in a statement in March. "It makes sense to focus limited universal service fund resources on broadband, rather than layering new support on top of existing voice subsidies."

The Energy and Commerce Committee released other data as well, including a state-by-state list of carriers eligible to receive the funds. View the data on the committee website.