RLEC Group Urges Reserve Use to Fully Fund Model-Based USF Offers; Other Filings Made
The Small Company Coalition urged the FCC "to fully fund" USF support for rate-of-return carriers, and suggested tapping the sizable Connect America Fund reserves. "[A]rtificial constraints placed on the RoR high cost mechanisms are needlessly harming the ability of carriers…
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to deploy broadband, especially considering the collection and maintenance of significant CAF reserves," said the filing Thursday in docket 10-90 by the group, which is an alliance of RLECs and associated vendors. It said the Universal Service Administrative Co. has a CAF reserve balance of $1.84 billion, which has hovered around $2 billion since 2014 and is intended to prevent dramatic quarterly fluctuations. "Such reserves could help reduce costs associated with maintaining integrity in the USF and the savings could be better used to help fund the RoR mechanisms," said the SCC. The group asked the FCC to scrutinize the audit and review processes of its Office of Inspector General and USAC, which appear to have "substantial inefficiencies" and pass "unnecessary costs" to carriers. Separately, rural telco representatives asked the FCC not only to fully fund its original model-based USF offers but also to make "offers of model funding to RLECs whose model eligibility of funding was affected by clerical oversights," which they said would be "particularly efficient." Such model funding for the affected companies "would increase the number of prescribed broadband locations by 32% but only increase new model funding by 9% (compared to fully funding the original model offers)," said a filing by Vantage Point Solutions on a meeting it and others had with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai and Wireline Bureau staffers. A filing by rural electric groups and NTCA urged the FCC "to reject ViaSat's untimely proposal to modify" the agency's bidding weights for a planned CAF Phase II reverse auction of fixed broadband subsidies. A solo NTCA filing in docket 10-208 on a meeting with agency staffers discussed its proposal for the Mobility Fund Phase II challenge process. General Communication of Alaska discussed "hardship" under a USF rural healthcare spending cap and the need for a fix, said a filing in docket 02-60 on a meeting with aides to Pai and Commissioner Michael O'Rielly.