Sandwich Isles Petitions FCC to Reconsider, Set Aside USF Repayment Order

aside so parties can address its potential effects on end users at the same time as parties consider a $49.6 million fine the commission proposed for the company in an accompanying notice of apparent liability, said an SIC petition for reconsideration posted Thursday in docket 10-90. "Because of the interrelationship of this Order with the [NAL] issued on the same day, considerations of fundamental due process require that the Commission allow interested parties to comment on the issues and implications of this Petition for Reconsideration in the context of, and at the same time as, the comments due under the NAL." The order also should be set aside because it's "directly contrary to the unrebutted factual evidence submitted by SIC and constitutes administrative action that is arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law," it said. "The lone 'support' for the Commission’s [main] finding is a final audit report prepared by the Universal Service Administrative Company ('USAC'). This report, however, entirely ignored the unrebutted factual evidence submitted by SIC that demonstrates that the $26,320,270 in alleged ['Category 1'] overpayments is wildly overblown." SIC said the FCC never addressed the carrier's findings, confirmed by an independent telecom consulting firm, that the maximum amount of alleged Category 1 overpayments was only $4.1 million. "By ignoring this evidence, the Commission acted arbitrarily and capriciously," SIC said. FCC officials had no comment, including aides to Commissioners Ajit Pai and Mignon Clyburn, who issued a joint statement Dec. 5 endorsing the order.