WTA Comments on FCC High Cost Program NPRM

Today, WTA filed comments with the FCC in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on reforming the USF High Cost Program. In its comments, WTA reminded the FCC of Congress’s mandate to ensure that communications services are all available to all Americans, both rural and urban, have access to comparable services at comparable rates and that any network mechanism must be stable, predictable, and specific. While there is a need to update some of the components of the HCP support mechanisms – costs have changed, speed demands have risen – the HCP continues to be necessary to maintain and operate rural networks. WTA also expressed a desire to see some of the high-level proposals in the NPRM fleshed out, provided background on why so many rural broadband providers opted out of model-based support years ago, and added context to the discussion about what providers should count as a “subsidized competitor.”