NTCA, ITTA Ask FCC to Clarify Definition of Home Office for A-CAM Program

ITTA and Midwestern telecom alliances responded to a petition for clarification or declaratory ruling by Northeast Iowa Telephone and Western Iowa Telephone Association on the definition of locations included in the alternative Connect America cost model (A-CAM) for residences that also are businesses. NTCA challenged a discrepancy between FCC rules and orders, plus industry practices and realities in rural America, and a USAC FAQ. The USAC document says for a carrier to count a business run out of a house, barn, shed or other structure on a property as a separate serviceable location, there must be a separate facility line or drop to the business apart from that serving the home. NTCA said the FAQ guidance "does not reflect the realities and challenge of deploying networks and delivering services in rural areas." ITTA wants the FCC to rule that home-based businesses registered with a state or other governmental entity and in eligible census blocks "are considered locations and do not require separate subscriptions to facilities to count as such." Such a separate subscription requirement "can be found nowhere in the Commission's rules and orders," said the Iowa Communications Alliance, Minnesota Telecom Alliance and Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association.