Wireless Internet service providers across the country filed oppositions to...
Wireless Internet service providers across the country filed oppositions to CenturyLink’s waiver of rules dictating how it can spend the $90 million in Connect America Fund money the FCC allocated it. Cable associations also opposed the waiver. USTelecom and the…
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Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance supported the request, arguing WISP service is closer in capability to satellite service than fixed broadband, and consumers deserve better. CenturyLink had asked for permission to use $32.5 million of the money in areas where it argued the national broadband map was inaccurate and overstated the amount of fixed wireless broadband available (CD July 13 p14). The WISP Association argued CenturyLink’s assertions about poor fixed wireless broadband coverage are “false, flawed and unverified” (http://xrl.us/bngrv4). NCTA said the commission already denied a similar request by the ITTA. This one is “essentially the same” but “even less compelling because CenturyLink makes no attempt whatsoever to determine which locations” in the WISPs’ service area are capable of receiving broadband, NCTA said (http://xrl.us/bngrv6). The American Cable Association said it would be unfair to grant the waiver request, because the issue of whether the national broadband map is accurate should be addressed in a rulemaking, not in a waiver process. “CenturyLink’s waiver petition is based on the premise of the Commission’s order, which is to encourage additional broadband deployment in areas where customers are not served by a reasonably viable alternative,” said Melissa Newman, CenturyLink vice president-federal regulatory affairs. “Our limited waiver -- which is supported by many commenters, including the Washington Public Service Commission, the Minnesota Department of Commerce and other state agencies -- would allow the deployment of real, wired broadband service to thousands of rural households where a reasonable broadband option is not available today. Bringing robust broadband coverage to thousands of new households is a win for consumers and for our national public broadband goals.”