Telcos Seek Funding of Unsubsidized Voice Service or FCC Delay on Proposal
USTelecom and members urged the FCC to fund telco voice services mandated in extremely high-cost areas not receiving Connect America Fund Phase II support. They said parts of a CAF I draft order on commissioners' meeting agenda Thursday reasonably address…
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"the immediate task of disaggregating frozen support." But the agency "must either provide funding commensurate with the [voice] obligations" or "guidance on a path forward to relieve price cap carriers of their unfunded mandate," said a filing on USTelecom, AT&T, CenturyLink, Consolidated Communications, Frontier and Verizon meeting aides to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, posted Friday in docket 10-90. They said the draft "prematurely dismisses" a USTelecom funding proposal as too costly and "impermissibly extends" indefinitely a 4-year-old "interim" period supposed to end with a recent CAF II auction. They asked to scrap that dismissal and postpone consideration, noting USTelecom hasn't been able to revise the proposal because CAF II auction results aren't finalized. Alternatively, they sought other draft tweaks. USTelecom and Frontier signaled concerns recently (see 1901160051).