The FCC will put rural phone companies in...
The FCC will put rural phone companies in an “untenable position" with its current rate floor, a bipartisan group of senators told the FCC in a letter. Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., led…
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the letter, backed by seven other Democratic senators and seven Republicans. Rural companies “must choose between raising rates to levels that, in some cases, are more than the rates their urban counterparts charge many of their customers, or receiving reduced universal service support,” the senators said (http://1.usa.gov/1tCIuyN). “This is in spite of the fact that these rural exchanges often do not resemble their urban areas along key metrics like population, geography, and income, as well as other demographics.” The FCC should “reevaluate the structure of the rate floor and consider changes to ensure that rural consumers are protected from unnecessarily excessive rate hikes,” they said. The FCC declined comment.