The proposal, released in late July, is an "unprecedented agreement" between large telecom carriers including AT&T and Verizon and trade groups representing small carriers, supporters said in a letter to eight members of Congress. The letter encouraged the lawmakers to offer their strong support for the proposal.

The "carefully balanced" compromise represents a "rare opportunity" to make needed changes to the Universal Service Fund (USF), the U.S. Federal Communications Commission program that provides subsidies for telephone services in rural areas and intercarrier compensation, the rules that establish rates that telecom carriers pay to sent traffic to another network.

"The parties to this consensus framework are representatives of large, mid-sized, and smaller providers who have overcome long-standing policy disagreements and deep-seated differences to reach this breakthrough compromise," the letter said. "This reform debate has been underway for at least a decade, and this consensus framework brings policymakers and the industry as close as they have ever been to enacting real reform, restoring regulatory certainty, and enabling providers to focus on the delivery of high-quality services to consumers."

Lawmakers have been working for years on USF reform, but no bill has passed through Congress. The new proposal, called , is before the FCC as the agency looks for ways to fund broadband deployment.

"Overall, this represents a new funding paradigm for rural telecommunications, redesigning support programs for the IP [Internet Protocol] era," the letter said. "Our complementary proposals would promote sustainable, affordable broadband throughout rural America and make those who receive funds accountable to invest in the delivery of such service. The plans are aimed at balancing the dual needs to deploy broadband in hard-to-serve rural markets and sustain existing broadband assets."