Rural Associations File Petition For Clarification and/or Reconsideration on Unsubsidized Competitors

Today, NECA, WTA, NTCA and ERTA filed a Petition for Clarification and/or Reconsideration of the FCC’s recently approved rule to eliminate USF support in areas where a competitor serves 100 percent of the residents and businesses within an RLEC’s service territory.

The filing states that, “In the first instance, in an abundance of caution, the Rural Associations seek clarification that the directive from the Commission to the Wireline Competition Bureau to move forward with implementation of this rule in fact requires – as it does in price cap-carrier served areas – additional processes and requirements beyond mere reconciliation of study area boundaries. Alternatively, to the extent that the Order contemplates implementation of the rule and phase-down of support with no further evidentiary process or additional requirements to validate the actual presence of an unsubsidized competitor beyond simple reconciliation and review of mapping and FCC Form 477 data, the Rural Associations request reconsideration of such determination.”