NCTA proposed a two-step process by which parties can ask the FCC...
NCTA proposed a two-step process by which parties can ask the FCC to reassess universal service support levels for specific geographic areas. “The presence of one or more unsubsidized wireline competitors generally should be sufficient to ensure that consumers…
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will have access to reasonably priced service even if government subsidies are reduced or eliminated,” the cable association said. In the first step, the petitioner would have to show that either “unsubsidized wireline competitors offer service to more than 75 percent of the customers in an area without support,” or that “the state has found sufficient competition to substantially deregulate the retail rates charged by an incumbent local exchange carrier.” In the second step, the universal service fund recipient in the area would have to show the minimum amount of support needed to serve non- competitive portions of the area, NCTA said. “The burden should be on the ILEC to demonstrate that the total cost of serving areas where it is the sole provider is greater than the total revenues that it potentially can generate from services sold to customers in that area,” NCTA said. “In cases where the ILEC’s rates have been deregulated, any claim that costs cannot be recovered should be subject to particular scrutiny.”