USTelecom expressed disappointment with a coming FCC report that reportedly breaks with...

the Commission would take the data from its own National Broadband Plan showing U.S. broadband deployment to be an unprecedented American success story, turn it on its head, and conclude that broadband deployment is neither reasonable nor timely,” said USTelecom President Walter McCormick. “It is absolutely appropriate for the Commission to be concerned about the remaining small percentage of Americans who may not yet have access to wired broadband. Identifying important communications objectives for Congress is the right thing to do, and we support efforts to bring the benefits of broadband to everyone. However, it is inconsistent with the Commission’s own data to conclude that deployment is not progressing in a timely and reasonable manner.” Qwest also raised a red flag. “We are very disappointed that the FCC, for the first time, has found that broadband deployment is not reasonable or timely,” said Senior Vice President Steve Davis. “While there are some remote areas where broadband is not available because of the high cost of deployment, Qwest has submitted an application for federal stimulus funds to bring broadband to many of these primarily rural communities.” A senior FCC official questioned how industry players can comment on a report that hasn’t been released: “It’s comical the industry is commenting prior to seeing the report.”