California PUC Announces $12.1 Million Broadband Infrastructure Investment 

In a press release, the PUC announced it has approved $12.1 million in grant funding to build high-speed broadband Internet infrastructure and access to unserved Californians.  The awards, under the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) broadband infrastructure grant program administered by the CPUC, will serve households in Lassen, Plumas, and Santa Cruz counties, and include affordable subscription options.  Collectively, the grants- primarily for fiberoptic infrastructure investments—will provide high-speed Internet service to 677 unserved households. 

“I applaud these communities and alternative providers, a rural electric cooperative, and local Internet Service provider, for addressing the need for fast, fiberoptic Internet in their communities.  Much work remains, and I hope these innovative, local solutions are examples others can follow,” said Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves. 

The CASF is funded by a surcharge rate on revenues collected by telecommunications carriers from end-users for intrastate telecommunications services. 

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The Regulatory Mix Today:  California PUC Announces $12.1 Million Broadband Infrastructure Investment, FCC Approves Average Schedule Formula 

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FCC Approves Average Schedule Formula 

The FCC has approved the National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc.’s (NECA) annual average schedule company high-cost loop support (HCLS) formula for 2020.  The current HCLS formula approved on December 18, 2018 is expected to provide $2.231 million in payments to 47 average schedule study areas in 2019.  NECA’s proposed formula for 2020 projects approximately $3.245 million in payments to carriers serving 62 average schedule study areas, an increase of 45.5% over the 2018 approved estimated payments.12   The FCC found that NECA’s results and calculations were accurate and complete, and that the proposed HCLS formula should reasonably approximate the cost per loop (CPL) of the sample average schedule companies, and thereby allocate funds appropriately to average schedule companies.  Accordingly, it approved the new formula, which will take effect on January 1, 2020 and remain in effect through December 31, 2020.  

HCLS, also known as the loop expense adjustment, provides universal service support to carriers with high loop costs based on the extent that an individual company’s CPL exceeds the national average cost per loop (NACPL).  Because average schedule companies are not required to perform company-specific cost studies, the FCC has permitted expense adjustments for average schedule companies to be calculated pursuant to a formula developed by NECA and approved annually. 

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s 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 an Inteserra Briefing.