CenturyLink, Frontier Say NCTA Ignores Unfunded Mandate in Opposing ILEC Voice Subsidy
CenturyLink and Frontier said NCTA "misses the point" in objecting to their request that the FCC give price-cap ILECs $175 million a year in interim USF support for continuing to provide voice service in extremely remote areas so far unfunded…
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by a new broadband-oriented subsidy mechanism. "The FCC determined last year that customers in these remote areas should continue to be offered voice service until that broadband solution is in place," the two incumbent telcos said in a joint email statement responding to NCTA opposition in docket 10-90 (see 1603140053). "Unfortunately, however, the FCC failed to continue the necessary USF support for that obligation. CenturyLink has joined AT&T and USTelecom in appealing this unfunded mandate." The ILECs said their proposed interim funding "would only be available in areas where there are no other competitive providers, such as cable companies, offering service and where the FCC has recognized that it is too costly to serve without support." They said they share NCTA's concern about devising a long-term solution and agreed the FCC should move swiftly to set up a Remote Areas Fund. "It is disappointing that NCTA is against our proposal as it surely would oppose any action to impose a comparable unfunded voice obligation on cable companies," they said. "More importantly, by adopting interim funding, the FCC will ensure that customers continue receiving critical voice services in these extremely rural, high-cost areas while the FCC moves as rapidly as possible to adopt the Remote Areas Fund."