Parties Back FCC Proposal to Scrap E-rate Amortization Rule; RLECs Target Overbuilding
Commenters backed an FCC proposal to eliminate an E-rate amortization rule it already waived for the duration of a rulemaking (see 1901310061), with rural telcos suggesting steps to prevent overbuilding of subsidized broadband networks. The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband…
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Coalition endorsed earlier State E-rate Coordinators' Alliance support for scrapping the requirement that schools and libraries amortize over three years upfront, nonrecurring charges of $500,000 or more, including for "special construction" projects. "Requiring service providers to recover their costs over several years could discourage broadband providers from submitting bids for E-rate services," SHLB filed. Comments were posted through Tuesday in docket 19-2. The American Library Association (here), Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology, New Mexico's Public Schools Facilities Authority (here), NTCA and three Texas rural telcos also backed the proposal. The IDIT cited "low" risk that large "Category One" special construction projects providing connectivity to schools and libraries would leave insufficient E-rate funding for "Category Two" internal-connection requests. If the FCC is concerned, the Illinois department suggested a "cap on individual funding commitments for Category One non-recurring, one-time upfront special construction charges in the range of $30 million of the total project cost." NTCA said the FCC should promote better coordination between USF programs and ensure that existing rural broadband investments backed by high-cost subsidies "are not put at risk via duplicative overbuilding." Similarly, Central Texas Telephone Cooperative, Peoples Telephone Cooperative and Totelcom Communications urged new competitive bidding safeguards to "discourage overbuilding of existing federally supported fiber networks."