FCC Posts USF Budget Control Calculations for RLECs; Industry Voicing Concerns
FCC staff posted USF budget control mechanism calculations affecting rural telcos in the first half of 2017 under a rate-of-return overhaul order issued in March. The mechanism is intended to maintain a $2 billion annual budget for rate-of-return carriers, said…
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a Wireline Bureau public notice in docket 10-90 listed in Wednesday's Daily Digest. Representatives of NTCA, ITTA, WTA and USTelecom voiced concerns about the potential impact of budget controls on carriers' ability to meet reform goals under the order, said an NTCA filing posted Wednesday on a meeting Monday with bureau officials. They voiced concerns about (1) whether those sticking with revised "nonmodel" support would be able to deliver stand-alone broadband service at "reasonably comparable" rates or meet buildout obligations, and (2) whether those opting into new model-based support "would be able to achieve more aggressive buildout obligations (or even obtain such support at all) in the event of 'oversubscription' in the election process." NTCA expressed much interest in working "promptly" with the FCC to avoid a scenario in which "a lack of sufficient support could undermine the ability of carriers on both paths to carry out the mission of universal service, deter investment, and/or compel much higher prices" for rural broadband consumers. In a filing on a phone call with an aide to Chairman Tom Wheeler, NTCA called for "action immediately after November 1, 2016, with respect to the sorting of model elections and resolutions of any budget concerns that may arise should such elections result in 'oversubscription' for the model."