Allband Cites 'Dire Need' for FCC Waiver, Increased USF Support to Service RUS Loan
Allband Communications Cooperative asked the FCC to almost double its USF support from its current $250 per line, citing a "dire need" for "prompt action." Allband requires a "minimum of $457 per line in order to continue its services and…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
operations" as an incumbent telco "and to meet its expense obligations, including payments on its current federal loan" issued by the Agriculture Department's Rural Utilities Service (RUS), said a petition for a waiver Thursday of a Part 54.302 rule in docket 10-90. The ILEC noted a previous emergency petition for increasing its USF support to $375 per line "necessary to cover Allband's fixed costs, which costs exist irrespective of the employee time or affiliate cost allocations assigned" for Universal Service Administrative Co. review by a July 20, 2016, FCC order. "Aside from the temporary six-month partial deferral of the RUS loan payment obligation approved by RUS in March 2017, this RUS loan payment obligation equals $54,147.17 per month, or $334 per-line. ... The $250 per-line support caps imposed by the [2016 order] falls considerably short of even covering [Allband's] monthly payments on its RUS loan," it said.