FCC Rural Healthcare Rate Guidance Ignores 'Pragmatic Realities,' Alaska Telco Says
Alaska Communications said FCC rural healthcare program rate guidance in a Feb. 15 Wireline Bureau public notice "appears to overlook ... pragmatic realities" of the USF mechanism. "To the Bureau’s credit, it is attempting to improve predictability and transparency," filed…
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the carrier Wednesday in docket 17-310. "But such efforts will not succeed until the Commission modernizes its rules and puts the program on solid footing, with clear rules and processes announced in advance, a predictable funding schedule, and accountability for all." Alaska Communications noted seemingly "elementary" guidance that service providers should determine the rural rate before responding to a healthcare provider's request for bids and ensure the rate is sufficiently documented. That "overlooks the challenges faced by service providers in determining the rural rate under the current rules, and fails to account for the role of [Universal Service Administrative Co.] and the Commission in making this determination," the carrier wrote. Because "rules provide a series of options for determining the rural rate that must be applied sequentially, the service provider often has no assurance when it places a bid ... whether or under which option the rural rate will satisfy USAC."