Pai Concerned About USF Rate Floor, Plans to Seek FCC Action
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai criticized a USF rate floor and plans to seek action to "protect rural Americans from unjustified government-mandated rate increases in coming months." He said the rate floor requires USF-backed carriers to charge a minimum amount or…
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lose subsidies. "The rate floor has forced many rural customers to pay higher rates than some of their urban counterparts," without corresponding benefits, he said, sharing concerns of Sen. Tom Cotton (R) and others in the Arkansas delegation (exchange posted Thursday in docket 19-9). Pai noted the FCC in 2017 froze the rate at $18 per month through July 2019 to head off increases to $20 and $22, and adopted an NPRM seeking comment on whether to eliminate the rate floor. NTCA officials say the rate floor could cause rural rates to "skyrocket." Separately, rules prevented the FCC from granting two telco co-op relief requests for increased model-based high-cost USF support, said Pai, responding to Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. (here), and Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill. (here).