Today:   INCOMPAS responds to the FCC Vote on BDS Order, FCC Revises CAF Rules for ROR ILECs

INCOMPAS Responds to the FCC Vote on BDS Order

INCOMPAS released a statement regarding the FCC’s vote on the BDS Order and other items from the April 20, 2017, Open Meeting.  In his statement referring to the vote as the “FCC’s Competition Killing Business Broadband Vote” Chip Pickering, CEO of INCOMPAS, declared that:

“The FCC ignored requests by consumers, the US Small Business Administration, and our most important trading partners who all sought basic information about the impact this competition killing change in policy would have.  The FCC also denied requests by members of Congress to provide a sufficient transition period. They even refused transparency requests for county information that would have alerted local communities to the dangerous price hikes they now face.” 

“Today’s FCC action protects monopoly over free markets. By saying one provider is sufficient, the FCC is favoring old incumbents over new innovators. It is punishing small business customers, and holds back entrepreneurs. Our networks drive our economy, and blocking competition from one of our economy’s most important sectors is dangerous.”

See the full release here.

FCC Revises CAF Rules For Rate-of-Return ILECS

At its April meeting, the FCC also revised the way capital expenditures are treated for purposes of Connect America Fund high cost support.  Under the current rules, high-cost carriers lose all universal support for capital expenses on a construction project if the average costs per location exceeds a company-specific threshold. This encouraged carriers to exclude certain high cost homes from a project entirely, even if including those homes would be more efficient. The order amends the rule to only disallow expenses above the threshold.  For example, under the previous rules, if a carrier’s average per location cap was $5,000 and a project cost $50,500 to serve 10 locations, the cost of the entire project would be disallowed. Under the new rule, carriers will be allowed to pay for the portion of the excess capital expenditure with their own funds, rather than disallowing support for the project altogether. 

Connecticut TRS Contract

The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority awarded the contract to provide telecommunications relay service (TRS) in Connecticut to Sprint Communications Company L.P. for the period of July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2017.  The contract provides that the current service offerings will continue and Sprint will continue subcontracting with Solix, Inc. to provide billing and collection functions.  All telecommunications providers, including wireless carriers and VoIP providers, are required to participate in the funding for TRS.  Telecommunications providers offering service in Connecticut are assessed their proportionate share of the cost for providing intrastate TRS.

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The Regulatory Mix, TMI’s daily blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of a TMI Briefing.