Minn. AG, Industry Urge Suspending LTD Broadband ETC Status

LTD Broadband still hasn’t shown it can serve rural Minnesota, said state Attorney General Keith Ellison (D), industry and public interest groups in comments at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. They urged the PUC to lift a stay on a proceeding to consider revoking the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) winner’s expanded eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation -- and to suspend the certificate while docket 22-221 remains open. Inaction could stop areas from receiving support from NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, said the commenters.

The Minnesota PUC received comments Friday on lifting a Jan. 18 stay meant to give time for the FCC to rule on LTD’s appeal of the commission denying the company’s RDOF long-form application (see 2307210039). Minnesota Telecom Association (MTA) and Minnesota Rural Electric Association (MREA) seek to suspend LTD’s ETC designation while the PUC considers revoking it altogether. About seven months since the Minnesota stay, the FCC hasn’t reached a decision on LTD’s appeal. Replies are due Aug. 21 in the state proceeding.

"Minnesotans who lack access to quality internet could be deprived of 21st century educational and economic opportunities,” commented Ellison for the Minnesota Commerce Department. “That outcome is clearly unacceptable and highlights the urgency for allowing this proceeding to commence after nearly a year of delay.” Suspend the company’s ETC designation now so rural communities aren't "deprived of or deterred from accessing other federal broadband support in the interim,” the AG said.

"While the FCC’s denial of LTD’s long-form application has paused RDOF funds from flowing to LTD and lessened the initial urgency, the need for the proceeding continues and the Commission’s independent authority to designate and monitor ETCs remains,” said Ellison. “With a stay in place, should the FCC reverse its decision and approve LTD’s long-form application, the parties would continue to be where they are now -- at the very early stages of litigation with little information on complex issues.” That would possibly leave six weeks before money started flowing to LTD, the AG said. "The parties and the public interest would be greatly prejudiced by such an expedited proceeding.”

The record shows "LTD’s long-form application relies on sleight of hand, and unexplained and implausible assumptions to make its financial and engineering commitments balance out,” added Ellison. "Depending on timing, vast swathes of Minnesota where LTD was named a provisional RDOF award winner could be deemed ‘served’ and therefore ineligible for other assistance.”

Much evidence since the PUC’s June 2021 ETC approval shows LTD isn’t fit, agreed the Minnesota AG office’s residential utilities division in separate comments. "Neither LTD’s proposals nor its work product to date evince the skills, experience, or financial stability state and federal law demand of ETC designees,” the division said. “LTD has not demonstrated it can deliver for Minnesotans; it has failed to justify standing in the way of others who may more effectively deploy federal and state resources to build out service.”

The PUC granted ETC designation "based on a record that the Commission recognized was limited,” commented MTA and MREA. "Facts now available refute LTD’s initial certifications and leave no basis for allowing that designation to remain in effect." Allowing the company to keep its designation could result in locations in LTD's area becoming ineligible for BEAD funding, said the associations, noting the case is unlikely to be completed before the first round of awards.

"No LTD action over the last fifteen months has assuaged our concerns,” commented Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) with the League of Rural Voters and AARP Minnesota. The FCC has no deadline to act on LTD's appeal and ILSR sees no evidence it will be soon. "Any delay at this point regarding LTD’s RDOF location wins in Minnesota -- all of which are included in the NTIA’s BEAD calculation for the state -- makes developing an effective state broadband plan more difficult, while also running the risk that the state will have to amend its plans later," it said. "This would likely increase inefficiencies and delay deployment for those rural households that have already been left behind by the marketplace for far too long." FCC reversal on its LTD long-form decision could risk "part or all of the state’s one-time $652 million in BEAD funding ... on a provider that we do not believe has the capacity to turn precious public dollars into future-proof networks,” ILSR added.

LTD won about 415 census tracts in Le Sueur County, but Administrator Joe Martin said he’s not aware of any fiber work completed, in progress or even planned. The county works with other ISPs that are ready to start work, "but have been hesitant to do so, as RDOF creates a barrier for them to access" state and federal support, Martin commented Aug. 7. The county has "received numerous complaints from residents about the level of technical and customer service that LTD provides,” added the administrator: Customers report speeds of 9 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload despite the company reporting 250 Mbps symmetrical speeds on the FCC's national broadband map.