National Tribal Telecommunications Association Seeks Changes to Support Mechanisms

The National Tribal Telecommunications Association recommended changes to USF support mechanisms for carriers serving predominantly rural tribal areas, in a report filed Thursday at the FCC in docket 10-90. NTTA "proposes a Tribal Area Solution to revise current federal universal service programs for [rate-of-return] carriers. These revisions, proposed for the High Cost Loop Support, Connect America Fund Broadband Loop Support, and Alternative Connect America Cost Model support programs, recognize the unique challenges faced by carriers serving rural Tribal areas of the lower 48 states in the country.” Efforts to help tribal areas appear on paper to be “fairly substantial,” the group said: “However, the facts are clear -- Tribal areas, especially rural Tribal areas in the lower 48 states, lag significantly behind the rest of the country in regards to broadband availability.”