The FCC should “not jeopardize the ongoing viability” of rural...

the existing USF High-Cost and ICC mechanisms adopted by the FCC should not compromise the Rural Telephone Companies’ ability to continue to deploy the capital necessary to offer broadband telecommunications and information services,” said Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Jimmy Field in a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. “Under all circumstances, the FCC should ensure that any reduction or elimination of funding does not affect the ability of the rural incumbent carriers to recover existing investments made under current rules.” Rural telcos have promised to “pull out all the stops” in an effort to ward off what they consider threats to their survival in the pending reforms (CD July 5 p6). Field said: “Many of the proposals outlined in the FCC’s USF and ICC NPRM, if adopted, could jeopardize universal service in the rural areas of Louisiana. In particular, the short-term reforms to the current USF rules proposed in the NPRM, together with the potential direction of ICC reform, risk substantial rate increases for rural consumers in Louisiana, and may cause the quality of broadband service in rural areas of Louisiana to fall behind the rest of the nation.”