The FCC is penalizing minority businesses by denying...
The FCC is penalizing minority businesses by denying a waiver request from Adak Eagle Enterprises, the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council told acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn in a letter Monday. The organization is throwing its weight behind a petition by…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
AEE and its subsidiary Windy City Cellular seeking reconsideration of a rule limiting line support to $250 per month. The companies are “two of few minority-owned telecommunications businesses in the U.S.,” MMTC said. “The Commission should consider ways to support -- rather than penalize minority or women-owned businesses” that enter “a competitive communications ecosystem,” it said. The Wireline and Wireless Bureaus based their denial on “unreasonable” operating expenses, disproportionate executive compensation, and the presence of an alternative carrier on Adak Island. The bureau’s reasoning was flawed, MMTC said: “The bureaus support GCI providing Adak Island with fewer services to a smaller geographic area, and to fewer customers, at more cost to the USF. At the same time, a small, minority-owned business is providing more and better services, including what appears to be the only 911 service, serving a larger geographic area and more customers, all while historically taking less support.” By reversing its denial, the commission will “assist in preserving women- and minority-owned rural communications providers, serving community interests, and reducing destructive and inhibitive regulatory barriers in the communications industry,” MMTC said.