OPASTCO urged the FCC to adopt ‘a strong set of standardized mini...
OPASTCO urged the FCC to adopt “a strong set of standardized minimum criteria” for use by state commissions and the FCC in determining whether rural competitors are qualified for designation as eligible telecom carriers (ETCs). ETC status enables a…
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carrier to receive high-cost universal service funding. OPASTCO in a Feb. 1 ex parte letter also urged the agency to make sure its bureaus “consistently and rigorously” apply whatever guidelines are adopted. The association reminded the FCC that in the Va. Cellular decision it said a more stringent public interest analysis was needed for ETC designations. In that decision, the FCC adopted an interim public interest analysis framework pending further action, OPASTCO said. However, OPASTCO complained, the Wireline Bureau didn’t “carefully apply” that interim framework when it designated Nextel Partners as an ETC in 7 states in August: “A series of ex parte communications from TDS Telecom indicate that Nextel Partners’ own coverage maps do not demonstrate any significant level of service in most of the TDS Telecom service areas in which Nextel Partners was designated as an ETC… If the FCC’s own bureaus cannot adhere to an adopted framework for conducting public interest analyses, how can it reasonably expect state commissions to follow any federal guidelines on minimum ETC eligibility criteria that are adopted?”