Many of the proposals for a Connect America Fund (CAF) rulemaking...

the Notice that its proposal to support broadband is competitively neutral, many of its key proposals conflict with the Commission’s longstanding commitment to establish and manage universal service support mechanisms in a competitively neutral manner,” the carrier said. U.S. Cellular urged the FCC to look closely at a proposal the company has put in the record. “Adopting U.S. Cellular’s proposal would further President [Barack] Obama’s goal to invest in the next generation of high-speed wireless coverage for 98 percent of Americans, and would also ensure that CAF funding mechanisms are competitively neutral,” U.S. Cellular said. U.S. Cellular had particular concerns about a reverse auction proposal in the rulemaking. “The Commission lacks statutory authority to adopt a single-winner reverse auction mechanism because such a mechanism would not comport with the mandate of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to promote local competition, it would require extensive regulation (contrary to the Commission’s claims), and it would not be consistent with principles established in Section 254(b) of the Act,” the carrier said. T-Mobile also weighed in, commenting on the potential effect for wireless. “Advancing the deployment of mobile voice and broadband networks should be a specific priority, and competitive and technological neutrality should be guiding principles of reform. Further, there should be uniform requirements for federal support recipients, and vague and varying state carrier of last resort requirements should not be imported into them,” T-Mobile said.