Coming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Promising, Lyons Says; Seeks More From Stakeholders
The FCC's coming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, "a natural evolution" of the USF serving high-cost areas, is "promising," but more may be needed from stakeholders, an observer blogged for the American Enterprise Institute. It's good Chairman Ajit Pai would use…
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"the reverse auction methodology that proved successful during Connect America Fund Phase II," wrote Boston College Law School professor Daniel Lyons, and it appears "technologically neutral." Lyons seeks "greater cooperation with state regulators." They "have valuable insight regarding the location and prioritization of broadband gaps," so the FCC "should leverage states’ expertise and interest by partnering with the states to deploy buildout funds," he said, as occurred with New York. Lyons' "biggest critique" is the plan "appears primarily to be repurposing existing High-Cost Fund dollars, rather than providing new sources of buildout funding." Congress could "replace the outdated surcharge-based universal service program with a more traditional program funded directly by an annual grant from the Treasury," Lyons said. The FCC and NARUC declined to comment. Lyons, who noted he's long been a USF contribution system critic, thinks the entire program "should be moved on-budget" and so funded by congressional appropriation, he emailed us. "The existing contribution mechanism is structurally flawed and unsustainable, and each part of the program would benefit from explicit congressional oversight. I don't have any recommendations for total dollars, though it seems the current amount is probably a good starting point for analysis." Lyons noted he has no business relationships with recipients of USF money. No imminent FCC action is seen on the fund (see 1905010188).