The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association rejected ...
The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association rejected another rural carrier association’s proposed edits to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin’s overhaul for intercarrier compensation and the Universal Service Fund. The revised plan, which includes revisions by the Western Telecommunications Alliance and the…
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Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies, is one of three proposals currently out for comment. In a Monday letter to the FCC, NTCA shot down five changes, saying they would drive “many rural ILECs … out of business within ten years.” NTCA also condemned Martin’s original plan, saying it would be “a smothering blanket on efforts to extend and maintain broadband to the most rural, high-cost parts of the United States.” NTCA said the FCC should instead “adopt a set of completely new comprehensive [intercarrier compensation] and USF reform measures,” as described previously by NTCA. Formal comments on the three plans are due Nov. 26, with replies Dec. 3. FCC members other than Martin have said they want to vote on an overhaul at the Dec. 18 meeting, but Martin said Tuesday it’s unlikely that will happen (CD Nov 19 p2).