Nov. 4 isn’t just election day—it’s also when the FCC will be deciding on several potential game-changing issues for many companies in the telecom space. Perhaps the least-talked of them is the FCC’s proposal to change the rates phone companies pay one another to transfer calls. Next week, the FCC will vote on a plan to lower the rates to a fraction of what they are now. The proposal would also allow companies to raise monthly subscriber rates by $1.50 for residential phone lines and $5 for businesses. As it stands now, the system presents a multibillion-dollar revenue stream that flows in and out of phone companies across the country. Rural phone companies will be hit the hardest under the plan because they currently receive millions from the likes of AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) for phone calls that transfer through their network. So you can imagine where the opposition lies.

Calling the access charges a “lifeline” for many rural wireless companies, Rural Cellular Association Executive Director Eric Peterson is urging the FCC to reject the measure, the Wall Street Journal reports. And there are already hints that the five-member commission will do just that. Rural phone companies argue that the loss of revenue will impact their ability to provide internet access to all of their customers within five years, a move heralded by the FCC. Still, it’s hard to argue that current system isn’t in need of reform. The current formula, which dates back to 1984 following the Bell breakup, allows some carriers to charge a fraction of a cent while others charge hundreds of times that much for the same service.

On Nov. 4, the FCC will also be taking up Verizon’s acquisition of Alltel (NYSE: AT), the Clearwire (NSDQ: CLWR) merger, and the question of whether to auction off white spaces.