FCC Sets 2019 Rural Benchmark Rates for USF-Backed Fixed Voice, Broadband Services
The FCC set 2019 rural benchmark rates for fixed voice and broadband services of eligible telecom carriers receiving high-cost USF support. Based on an urban rate survey (data here) and a "reasonable comparability" mandate, the rates cover ETCs with broadband…
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duties, including rate-of-return incumbents and price-cap ILECs receiving Connect America Fund Phase II support, CAF II auction winners and rural broadband experiment providers. ETCs must certify by July 1 their monthly basic residential voice rates are no higher than a rural benchmark of $51.61, which is two standard deviations above the urban average of $26.98, said a Wireline Bureau public notice in Thursday's Daily Digest and docket 10-90. The PN said, absent further FCC action, ETCs will be subject to support reductions for any rate below the $26.98 rate floor, and must report such rates in annual Form 481 filings. Most rural broadband benchmark rates were set between $66.12 and $162.33, depending on data speeds and monthly usage allowances; Alaska Plan carrier rates were set between $113.19 and $232.38. For RoR and CAF II fixed service providers, the bureau raised a 170 GB monthly minimum usage allowance to 215 GB, based on updated Measuring Broadband America data.