WTA Meets with Wireline Bureau, Chairman’s Office to Discuss USF Budget
This week, representatives from WTA held separate meetings with staff from Chairman Ajit Pai’s office and the Wireline Competition Bureau about a potential Order regarding the USF High Cost Program budget.
In the meetings, WTA discussed a range of potential regulatory solutions for addressing rural broadband deployment and the sufficient and predictable high-cost support needed to achieve it. These matters included: (a) sufficient funding of existing ACAM and cost-based Rate-of-Return support mechanisms; (b) the implementation and technical and economic feasibility of potential changes to associated broadband build-out obligations; (c) the potential impact of the growth of CBOL services upon cost-based RoR budgets and budget control mechanisms; (d) the nature and structure of mechanisms to address unsubsidized competitor issues; and (e) the design and eligibility standards for a potential second ACAM offer.
A representative Notice of Ex Parte can be found here.
