The FCC should ask whether nonrural carriers should be denied fur...
The FCC should ask whether nonrural carriers should be denied further universal service high-cost subsidies in states with “substantially deregulated” phone rates, said Cable One and Metrocast. In meetings last week with the Wireline Bureau and Commissioners Michael Copps,…
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Robert McDowell and Meredith Baker, the cable companies asked the FCC to include the question in a coming notice of proposed rulemaking on a remand by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (CD Aug 11). In 2005, the court ruled unlawful the FCC’s current nonrural rules, which concern carriers like Qwest that serve high-cost areas with too many lines to meet a statutory definition of “rural.” Cable One and Metrocast said the money “could be redirected to the low-income program” to bring broadband to the unserved. “With funds available for low- income eligible recipients, broadband providers could bridge the broadband gap by providing computers and high speed internet connectivity under an expanded low-income USF program.”