Rural Providers Seek to Change Goals in National Broadband Plan, USF Reform

On May 3, the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunication Companies, and the Western Telecommunications Alliance sent letters to Congress to warn about the low threshold speed of 4 Mbps set by the National Broadband Plan.

The associations are urging the Federal Communications Commission to redirect the course of the NBP to ensure adequate cost recovery for rural broadband providers so that all consumers and businesses residing in the nation's high-cost, rural communities receive the benefits of comparable and affordable broadband service as required by US telecommunications law. The groups say new Universal Service Fund rules proposed by the FCC April 23, 2020 would most certainly create a new broadband urban/rural digital divide.