NCTA expressed “grave concern” about ILEC proposals to...
NCTA expressed “grave concern” about ILEC proposals to get access to Connect America Fund Phase I money without any corresponding obligation to extend broadband service to the 19 million Americans that lack it, in a meeting with an aide to…
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FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Thursday (http://bit.ly/10ARgzS). That approach, which would give the price cap LECs about $1.5 billion in support for 2013, is “fundamentally at odds” with the FCC’s USF reform goals, NCTA said. The ILEC proposals would classify as unserved about a million locations currently counted as served, and then make support available to upgrade the existing DSL service at those locations, NCTA said. Spending “limited resources” in such a manner “should not be a priority,” it said. NCTA also raised concerns about USTelecom proposals to eliminate the obligation to spend a third of its 2013 legacy high-cost support on broadband in areas currently unserved by any unsubsidized provider. “Enforcement of that requirement is critical to achieving the Commission’s goal of promoting broadband deployment,” NCTA said.