ITTA Supports 'Discrete" NTCA Requests for FCC to Reconsider Rural USF Order
ITTA said it backs aspects of an NTCA petition for FCC reconsideration of a USF order in March updating subsidy mechanisms for rate-of-return telcos (see 1605250068). ITTA lauded the commission for working with industry groups on the USF broadband overhaul…
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and said it's "especially gratified" rural carriers were given the option of receiving support based on a broadband cost model. In "this spirit of ongoing partnership and collaboration," the midsize telco group backed "three discrete issues" raised by NTCA. "ITTA agrees with NTCA that the Commission should clarify its order to ensure a better understanding of where an unsubsidized competitor actually purports to serve before eliminating support in a census block," said its comments posted Tuesday in docket 10-90. ITTA also echoed NTCA's request that the FCC confirm that, where there is competitive overlap, rural incumbents can choose freely from among the agency's defined formulas for recovering disaggregated costs. And ITTA supported NTCA's call for commission reconsideration of a requirement to impute access recovery charges where carriers can show they "had a certain number of standalone broadband connections when the Connect America Fund -- Intercarrier Compensation (CAF ICC) support baseline was set."