RLECs, Tribal Groups Seek More USF Support; NCTA Opposed to Hike Without Offsets
Rural telcos asked the FCC to increase their USF support and take other steps to ensure subsidy flows meet statutory mandates and help carriers improve broadband service. Tribal groups said the agency had to do more to support tribal carrier broadband efforts and operations expenses. But NCTA opposed proposals to increase Connect America Fund spending for rate-of-return (RoR) telcos without offsets, and both it and the Wireless ISP Association suggesting using reverse auctions to award some support. Comments on an NPRM attached to an order providing $545 million in new support for RLECs (see 1803230025) were posted Friday and Tuesday in docket 10-90.
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WTA and others RLEC interests backed additional support for rural telcos through both the Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM or ACAM) and revised legacy support mechanisms, which currently total a little over $2 billion annually. WTA called for "a total RoR budget of $2.426 billion for 2018 (which includes the existing $200 million of additional CAF Reserve funding for ACAM), and for gradual annual increases that will ultimately reach a total RoR budget of $2.975 billion in 2026 (again including CAF Reserve dollars not previously deemed to be part of the stated RoR budget)."
NTCA wants actions that would yield an estimated budget of $2.55 billion in 2018, increasing to about $2.8 billion by 2026, to address "shortfalls" and comply with statutory mandates. The RLEC group said the FCC "should establish a high-cost USF budget that: (1) reflects reasonable expectations as to demands over time based upon the approved design of the components of the USF programs; (2) is sized sufficiently to promote 'true universal service' of the kind of necessary to drive the availability of scalable, forward-looking networks that can evolve and keep pace with consumer demand, or at the very least, is sized sufficiently to correspond to the set of buildout and other performance tasks designed by the Commission; (3) is sized sufficiently as well to ensure 'reasonable comparability' in terms of services and pricing; (4) provides greater predictability to the extent that any projected budget nonetheless turns out to be insufficient in a future period; and (5) includes an appropriate inflationary factor just as other USF programs do today."
ITTA said the FCC should "fully fund" the budgets for A-CAM and legacy support. It said the FCC should evaluate sums needed for CAF intercarrier compensation support "separate" from those subsidy budgets. USTelecom backed "fully-funding the current rate of return mechanisms as well as making an additional A-CAM offer and other measures that provide stability and predictability as well as stimulates broadband deployment in rural areas in order to close the digital divide." Many other RLEC groups and carriers also commented. Adtran supported some proposals.
The FCC's proposed tribal broadband factor is inadequate, said the National Tribal Telecommunications Association. The TBF, "while appreciated, is not similar" to the TBF that NTTA advocated, the tribal group said, suggesting estimated results of the commission proposal were "not promising" and would even reduce support levels. It said the FCC should eliminate or further revise operational expense restrictions.
NCTA opposes proposals in the NPRM that would increase funding for programs exclusively for rate-of-return incumbent telcos. "Move forward with programs that more efficiently award support through competitive bidding," the cable group urged: "To the extent the Commission expands any of the programs available solely to incumbent providers, an equal amount of reductions should be made elsewhere to this incumbent LEC-only support." WISPA said, "A reverse auction mechanism in areas where there is significant, but less than 100%, competitive overlap will better serve consumer needs while more effectively making use of the limited funds available to promote high-quality fixed broadband deployment in high-cost areas."