The FCC should exempt carriers serving tribal lands from a propos...

deployment of services to these hard-to-serve areas, the Alaska-based company told the FCC. Under a plan by GCI, the cap exclusion would apply to services on tribal lands and Alaska native regions defined under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. A CETC (competitive eligible telecom carrier) serving a tribal area could avoid a cap only by offering broadband service over its own facilities to 50% or more of tribal area households, “with a commitment to increasing coverage to at least 80% of the households over the next three years,” GCI said. The carrier proposed an initial broadband standard of 400 kbps, rising to 1 Mbps over the 3 years. “Compliance would be verified by certifications and supported by reporting requirements,” GCI said. Uncapped support would be limited to “one payment per each residential account,” so subsidies couldn’t be used to fund multiple lines or handsets in a single household. “A cap exclusion crafted in this way will ensure that a cap will not unintentionally… deepen the divide between today’s communications haves and have-nots,” GCI said. Comments on the proposal by the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service to cap CETC subsidies are due June 6 at the FCC.