Mescalero Hits FCC Tribal Opex Relief Broadband Condition, Says Its Deployment Below Cap
Mescalero Apache Telecom Inc. criticized an FCC broadband deployment cap on tribal carrier USF relief from operations expense (opex) limitations. MATI said it should be eligible for the additional support because its actual deployment level is below the cap. Citing…
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high tribal costs, the commission in April provided opex USF relief to tribal-oriented carriers, conditioned on them not having deployed 10/1 Mbps broadband to 90 percent or more of their tribal housing units, which sparked concerns from Chairman Ajit Pai and others that Mescalero would be ineligible (see 1804050028 and 1804060042). Mescalero believes the cap "was adopted without sufficient explanation" or "record support," and "with no notice," said the carrier's filing on a discussion with an aide to Commissioner Mike O'Rielly posted Wednesday in docket 10-90. O'Rielly said he sought conditions to target the relief where it was most needed. But Mescalero said its broadband deployment and service "in a very remote and mountainous reservation with severe weather conditions" increases its opex costs, making its need for support even greater than those with lesser deployment. Regardless, the carrier said it should receive the relief because it "does not actually serve 90 percent of customers with 10/1 Mbps broadband service," despite Form 477 data indicating it provides service to 95 percent. Based on further analysis, Mescalero determined it's "not currently able to deliver 10/1 Mbps connectivity to 90 percent of locations." The provider cited commission precedent for allowing carriers to make showings to correct inaccurate Form 477 estimates if necessary to avoid USF revenue loss. O’Rielly "is supportive of challenge processes in order to ensure that our decisions are based on accurate data," emailed an aide. Pai's original proposal "would have provided relief" and "that would have been his preferred outcome," emailed an FCC spokesperson. "Unfortunately, there weren’t the votes to get that done so Chairman Pai worked with those Commissioners who were willing to engage in good faith to produce the best order possible under the circumstances.” Pai and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn traded barbs in February after she changed her vote to a partial dissent (see 1802020058).