759-page tome hits the streets, with surprisingly brief comment periods

Call me Ishmael!

That’s how the Commission might have opened its leviathan Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (R&O/FNPRM) in the proceeding to overhaul the Universal Service Fund.  Weighing in at a hefty 489 pages – with an additional 16 appendices and four separate Commissioners’ statements bringing the total package to a whopping 759 pages – the document is physically daunting.  And to be perfectly honest, we haven’t read it yet.  But we plan to, and we expect to get a summary of it posted as soon as possible.

However, in a time-honored Washington tradition, the Commission unleashed the R&O/FNPRM at about 6:00 p.m. on a Friday evening.  That would be the Friday before Thanksgiving.  So the prospects for getting a post up in the next couple of days are limited.

But we have previously reported on an “executive summary” released by the Commission last month, describing the outlines of the ambitious R&O/FNPRM, so interested readers may use that as a sort of Cliff’s Notes intro to the full version for the time being.  And anyone interested in participating in the proposed rulemaking portion of the proceeding better get reading.  Comments on some aspects of the FNPRM are currently due to be filed by January 18, 2012, with replies by February 17.  Comments on other aspects aren’t due until February 24, with replies by March 30.  With Thanksgiving and the year-end holidays fast approaching, those deadlines will arrive sooner than you know it.

Check back here for updates and further information.