Oklatel Communications seeks a waiver of FCC rules requiring eligible...
Oklatel Communications seeks a waiver of FCC rules requiring eligible telecom carriers to demonstrate annually that they have engaged tribal governments in their universal service supported areas. Oklatel is unable, “as a practical and logical matter,” to meet the tribal…
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engagement obligations, it said, because “the Tribal population served by Oklatel is different than that of typical Tribal lands” (http://xrl.us/bn83tm). The obligations are “inappropriate” as applied to Oklatel because, although the telco serves consumers that are members of federally recognized tribes, it “serves no Tribal ’sovereign institutions,’ ‘Tribal governments,’ or ‘Tribal Councils,'” Oklatel said, quoting the rules. “With zero formal Tribal communities and Tribal governments in its service area, it will be exceedingly difficult for Oklatel to comply with the Commission’s Tribal engagement obligations in any meaningful fashion."