Today:   Verizon-Corning Optical Fiber Purchase Agreement, FCC Questions USAC on E-Rate Program

FCC Pai’s Statement on Verizon-Corning Purchase Agreement

In the wake of an announcement that Verizon Communications Inc. agreed to purchase at least $1.05 billion in optical fiber from Corning Incorporated, Chairman Pai issued a statement saying he was “pleased to see that Verizon and Corning have reached a $1.05 billion agreement under which Corning will manufacture and Verizon will buy up to 12.4 million miles of optical fiber each year. This agreement heralds the construction of ‘densified’ 5G networks that will benefit American consumers. It will create thousands of high-quality jobs building and laying fiber. And it will go a long way toward closing the digital divide.”  He said that the FCC will continue to focus on “creating a regulatory climate that favors greater investment and competition” and noted that a key to closing the digital divide is “setting stable, market-friendly rules that will lead to investment in online infrastructure.”

FCC Questions USAC’s Administration of the E-Rate Program

In a letter to USAC CEO Chris Henderson, FCC Chairman Pai sought USAC’s “unqualified commitment” to implement several directives related to the online E-Rate Productivity Center (EPC).  According to Pai, implementation of the EPC has created “major headaches” for E-Rate funding applicants, noting that the EPC is “still not adequately functional; critical E-Rate processes are still operated out of the legacy IT system instead of EPC.”  He asks USAC to commit to: (1) focusing on administration of the E-Rate program by swiftly resolving issues that plague the EPC; (2) being fully transparent with and accountable to the FCC so that the FCC learns about problems from USAC and not applicants; and (3) identifying alternative options to assist applicants in the event of IT failures. 

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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.

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