Any Universal Service Fund reform should encourage participation ...
Any Universal Service Fund reform should encourage participation by satellite broadband and other new technologies, the Satellite Industry Assn. told the FCC. The Commission fielded comments Wed. on using reverse auctions to improve USF distribution. Reverse auctions could “reveal…
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various providers’ relative cost” of serving rural areas, SIA said, adding that satellite providers can serve rural communities efficiently and cheaply. To ensure satellite providers can participate effectively in reverse auctions, SIA said, the Commission should: (1) Not award set-asides, credits or other favorable treatments to incumbents. (2) Let satellite providers that provide broadband services on a non- common carrier basis keep that status. (3) Avoid restrictions such as service areas that give certain providers an edge over others. SIA also pushed for targeted USF pilot projects to prove satellite providers’ ability to bring telecom service to remote areas. “Reverse auctions could be used to award contracts to provide service to areas or individuals that currently lack access to any communications services,” SIA said. Pilot projects could focus on specific areas -- some tribal lands, for instance -- historically unserved by traditional telephony, SIA said.