RLEC Groups Urge FCC to Increase Funding for Rate-of-Return USF Mechanisms

fund fully both the model-based and non-model aspects of the reforms it adopted in March," said a filing by the group posted Monday in docket 10-90. NTCA cited an opportunity to address concerns it has been expressing, including last week (see 1611090015). "Providing an additional $160 million per year for ten years to fund the model offers, paired with up to $100 million per year in additional to fund the budget shortfall in the nonmodel mechanisms represents the best, most comprehensive way to seize this opportunity," it said. WTA effectively echoed the call for another $160 million in model-based support beyond the $150 million in additional support the commission already allocated for the mechanism, from a Connect America Fund reserve, to meet strong demand. "This singular opportunity supports full funding of A-CAM [Alternative Connect America Cost Model] at the $200 per location benchmark and at a budget that would entail an additional allocation of an average of approximately $310 million annually in additional funding," said a filing from the group. If the FCC can't provide that much, WTA said it "should reduce its per location funding cap from $200 to $175, and modify the associated fully funded (25/3 and 10/1) and partially funded (4/1 and reasonable request) buildout obligations accordingly," referring to broadband download/upload data-speed requirements. That would require an additional allocation of $125 million to $150 million, WTA said. ITTA, which represents mid-size rural-oriented telcos, also supported additional funding to address the anticipated shortfall, but said it understood the commission may not be able to fully fund the A-CAM mechanism. "Should that be the case, ITTA urges the Commission to allocate an additional $95 million of funding annually for model-based support," said a filing from the group. "This would enable all carriers that accepted such support to receive $146.10 per location, the same amount of per-location support that the Connect America Phase II program provides to price cap carriers." USTelecom said it agreed with the proposals to provide an additional $160 million annually to the A-CAM mechanism. If the FCC cannot do that, it "should reduce its per location funding cap from $200 to $175, and modify the associated fully funded (25/3 and 10/1) and partially funded (4/1 and reasonable request) build-out obligations accordingly," requiring an estimated additional allocation of $125 million, said a USTelecom filing that hadn't yet been posted in the docket. The FCC didn't comment.