Rural Alliance Seeks Parallel Action on A-CAM, CAF Support

Southeastern Rural Broadband Alliance representatives asked the FCC to revise the Connect America Fund-Broadband Loop Support (BLS) and address the Alternative Connect America Cost Model at the same time. Doing so would “help ensure that all consumers in high-cost, rural areas have access to reliable 100/20 Mbps broadband, while providing certainty for providers and avoiding duplicative funding with other agencies’ programs that are focused on this same goal,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 10-90. “Adopting a voluntary path to incentive regulation for CAF-BLS recipients not only reduce[s] the demands and size of the high-cost fund by approximately $600 [million] to $1.2 [billion] over 5 years, but it would also reap significant efficiencies,” the alliance told Wireline Bureau staff.