Wednesday, January 22, 2020
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Broadband Lobbyists Tweaking FCC's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund
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The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has invested $7.1 million in two, high-speed broadband infrastructure projects that will create or improve rural e-Connectivity for 1,250 rural households in north central Arkansas. The Yelcot Telephone Company will use a $1.7 million ReConnect Program grant and a $1.7 million loan to upgrade facilities from copper cable and drops to a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network that is expected to connect 548 households in Baxter and Marion counties. The Mountain View Telephone Company will use a $3.7 million ReConnect Program grant to upgrade facilities from copper cable and drops to an FTTH network that is expected to connect 702 households, 15 pre-subscribed farms and a pre-subscribed business in Stone County.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has invested $18.7 million in a high-speed broadband infrastructure project that will create or improve rural e-Connectivity for more than 6,300 rural households and an estimated 383 farms in Harrison, Doddridge, Lewis, Barbour and Upshur counties in West Virginia. The Harrison Rural Electrification Association Inc. will use an $18.7 million ReConnect Program grant to construct a fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network that is expected to connect 6,320 households, five educational facilities, a critical community facility and approximately 383 farms spread across the five-county region.
The major broadband associations have gotten to together to urge the Federal Communications Commission to make changes to the proposed Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. The NCTA-The Internet & Television Association, NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association, INCOMPAS, USTelecom, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, WTA – Advocates for Rural Broadband, and the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association wrote to the FCC saying they have a problem with the requirement that those bidding for the subsidies "maintain letters of credit [LOC] for multiple years of service." The FCC is looking to safeguard the funds by protecting against defaults, which the associations say they understand. "In light of the existing authority that the Commission has to withhold funds from those who fail to meet their deployment commitments along with a range of other enforcement tools at its disposal, the Commission can achieve our shared goal of preserving and protecting the Fund without imposing the unreasonable, unsustainable, and ultimately unworkable multi-year LOC requirements currently in the draft order," the groups said.
Terrific Digital Opportunities Ahead…But Some Tweaks Are Needed To Prevent Storm Clouds In The Future
Here are just a few pieces that we think are worthy of further consideration and some modification before the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) order becomes final.
- One of the issues we’re flagging is the proposal to inject a 50/5 Mbps speed tier into the auction. While we understand and support the goal of giving as many Americans as possible at least some level of service, we believe adding another speed tier that is below the average speeds enjoyed by urban Americans does not advance the cause of “reasonable comparability” as required by law.
- Another issue we’ve raised with the Federal Communications Commission is how letters of credit are established to assure performance by winning bidders in the RDOF. The FCC should tailor the letter of credit requirements to the risk presented, tracking how much must be kept tied up by those letters to the level of performance of each party and the amount of Universal Service Fund (USF) funding the FCC has at risk at any given time.
- Finally, and most importantly, we have highlighted to the FCC potential “storm clouds on the horizon.” In particular, the RDOF item contemplates that any area where a USF recipient has already built high-speed broadband won’t be eligible for the auction. In a world where the only goal is to build networks, that makes sense. But in a world where the law is focused not just on network availability, but ultimately on the availability of reasonably comparable services at reasonably comparable rates, this view misses the mark. We ask the FCC to take a look at what support might be needed to sustain reasonably comparable service at reasonably comparable rates int hose areas that are already served only because the networks there were built leveraging USF support.
[Shirley Bloomfield is chief executive officer of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association.]
Over a month has passed since Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) blocked Senate Commerce Chairman Roger Wicker’s attempt to fast-track a House-passed bill, H.R. 4998, authorizing $1 billion to reimburse rural wireless carriers that replace gear from companies deemed a national security risk (i.e., Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE). Lee’s big concern: where lawmakers are getting the money (he prefers the Senate approach, which would pay for a $700 million fund via airwaves sale revenue). But no resolution appears imminent as the Senate is about to enter its impeachment vortex. “We haven’t heard from Wicker or his staff but we are very happy to work with them if they reach out,” a Lee said. Chairman Wicker (R-MS) signaled an interest in hashing out differences with Sen. Lee and said he didn’t think the Senate would resort to scheduling a roll-call vote to bypass Lee’s objections. Chairman Wicker also expressed some frustration with the process: “There’s something to be said for scheduling a bill, bringing it up for amendments, taking a couple days and letting the majority speak,” he said. “We’re going to be in trouble if we become a body where one member has veto authority over every issue.”
Benton (www.benton.org) provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, while connecting communications, democracy, and public interest issues. Posted Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are factually accurate, their sometimes informal tone may not always represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang (headlines AT benton DOT org) and Robbie McBeath (rmcbeath AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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