ISPs Note Challenges Meeting Neb. Speed Test Requirements

The Nebraska PSC opened the matter in June (see 2406250051) as it considers changes to speed test rules adopted in November 2022 for state Universal Service Fund high-cost recipients and entities receiving funding from other grant programs. In a June 25 order, the PSC sought feedback on possible improvements (docket NUSF-133). The commission plans a hearing Aug. 6 at 1:30 p.m. CST.

Stop requiring speed tests or allow fewer of them for grant-funded projects completed at least three years ago, Lumen’s CenturyLink suggested. "When speed test results are acceptable upon grant completion and during the initial 3 years thereafter, the history of compliance justifies the Commission eliminating testing for that particular area,” it said. With fiber projects, testing requirements should end as soon as it exceeds the grant's speed threshold, the carrier said, adding that latency testing is unnecessary for fiber. CenturyLink warned, “Constant testing affects the quality of the service CenturyLink provides to its customers.” It might help to allow tests outside of peak usage times, it said.

Give staff “wider latitude in waiving or modifying speed testing program rules where appropriate,” suggested Rural Telecommunications Coalition of Nebraska. Staff should be able to "adjust the required cadence" of testing, said RTCN. "For example, if a project or high-cost recipient consistently demonstrates that it is meeting speed standards over an initial period of three years -- we believe it would be appropriate for the NUSF Department to move the project or high-cost recipient to a less frequent testing cycle of every three to five years.”

Several commenters picked up on the Nebraska PSC’s note in its June 25 order that “some carriers have difficulty in obtaining a minimum number of subscribers required for testing.” Windstream, Cox, RIC and Charter Communications were among those who agreed this was an issue.

"Cox has been challenged to complete the amount of consumer [speed] tests” the Nebraska Broadband Bridge Program requires, the cable company said. “While Cox can meet and exceed the testing speed requirement, it has been unable to complete the number of tests required by the due date." It’s especially difficult doing so 30 days after a project is completed, as required, it added. "Cox is advertising and marketing its new services in the area, but customer acquisition takes time.”

"Charter has repeatedly encountered this difficulty, especially in the context of supporting challenges that specific locations within a proposed broadband project are already served by broadband networks and should not be overbuilt with public funding, because typically the number of locations that a proposed broadband project may overlap is quite small,” the ISP said. In addition, it noted tests can show speeds only up to the limit of a customer’s service tier. If a customer subscribes to a plan with maximum 300 Mbps downloads and 10 Mbps uploads, for example, then a speed test can’t find that the connection meets the state's 100/20 Mbps standard, it said. "This means that the locations available for speed testing -- at locations where service at speeds far in excess of 100/20 Mbps is indisputably available -- are quite often less than the sampling numbers set by the Commission require.”

Several parties urged that the Nebraska PSC harmonize with the FCC. "State-level speed testing requirements should conform as much as possible" to FCC standards, which will limit "administrative and labor burdens on carriers already conducting testing under other programs,” Windstream commented. RTCN advised the PSC to avoid "duplicative state and federal testing” and to create a “safe harbor” where carriers that show compliance with FCC speed testing requirements can be "deemed compliant" with Nebraska rules.