NARUC Telecom Committee Supports RDOF Scrutiny
NARUC's Telecom Committee unanimously agreed the FCC should closely review Rural Digital Opportunity Fund long-form applications to ensure RDOF providers have what's needed to deliver on promises. The committee cleared that proposed resolution Wednesday at NARUC's virtual meeting. Earlier, an analyst raised concerns about young companies winning bids. Committee Chair Karen Charles Peterson urged the new FCC to revisit broadband reclassification and net neutrality rules, revamp USF contribution and restore Lifeline voice support.
The association's board votes Thursday on the RDOF resolution, proposed amid concerns from some state regulators about fixed wireless and unfamiliar entities winning large amounts of federal funding in their states (see 2101290028). The committee tweaked the measure to add that the FCC should scrutinize, in addition to long-form applications, “subsequently filed technical, financial, and managerial information.” The panel’s staff subcommittee amended the draft last week to specify the FCC should ensure winners follow through at promised speeds and latency (see 2102040065).
“The rubber really meets the road right now at the FCC," said sponsor and Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley (D). SpaceX and Wireless ISP Association officials sought to reassure NARUC members Tuesday the FCC adequately vetted companies (see 2102090073). That didn’t “convince me that all questions have been answered,” Presley emailed us. He felt “strongly enough about this issue to pass the resolution today,” he said. “It’s vitally important that state commissions, through the [eligible telecom carrier] process, work with the FCC as partners to protect the funds.”
Raymond James' Frank Louthan is “skeptical” about fixed wireless startups that won bids to do fiber-to-the-home, he said on an earlier panel. “That’s going to be a challenge” for small companies with limited back offices, and the stock analyst won’t be surprised if some don’t come up with necessary capital, he said. Generally, the RDOF auction “worked fairly well,” Louthan said. Oppenheimer's Tim Horan knows many wireless ISPs with fiber experience, and said more competition is good. The fund could have been bigger and covered more homes, he said.
Telecom Committee members’ top issue is broadband, especially with COVID-19, Charles Peterson said. States seek to preserve communications authority because each state has different needs, said the Massachusetts commissioner. “It’s fine for the FCC to set uniform policy, but they need also to leave room for states to ensure their constituents’ needs are met adequately.”
Reclassifying broadband as a Title II service under the Telecom Act and readopting net neutrality rules “is particularly critical given the importance of broadband services during this pandemic,” Charles Peterson said, urging the FCC to work with states. The administration should restore full Lifeline voice support, she said. “Voice services remain an important and critical service for low-income individuals.”
Charles Peterson urged the new FCC to reengage on USF contribution changes with the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, which she joined last month. The interstate revenue-based rate is now more than 30%, she noted. “We’re going to have to have a discussion.” The board’s last federal chair, Mike O’Rielly, criticized the group in November after it couldn’t agree what to do (see 2011100060).
The Telecom Committee passed an honorary resolution for Vermont Commissioner Sarah Hofmann at her last meeting before she retires. As state chair of the Federal-State Joint Board on Jurisdictional Separations, Hofmann regrets making only “tiny incremental changes,” she said. USF Joint Board state Chair Chris Nelson joked that it’s better than his group’s “no progress.”