North Central Telephone Cooperative asked the FCC for a waiver...
North Central Telephone Cooperative asked the FCC for a waiver of the rules eliminating the eligibility of LECs to receive Safety Net Additive support for qualifying investments made in 2010 (http://xrl.us/bn8o5p). NCTC, which provides telecom and broadband service to subscribers…
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in rural Tennessee and Kentucky, said it made “extensive capital investments in 2010 to upgrade its facilities in rural areas that qualified it for SNA support without regard to line losses.” The “essential” investments were funded by loans and grants by the Rural Utilities Service, it said, and NCTC believed the loans could be repaid in part by SNA support. With elimination of SNA support in the 2011 USF/intercarrier compensation order, NCTC realized it would have to defer substantial investments for several years, or perhaps indefinitely. “The unanticipated flash-cut of SNA support requires NCTC to defer extending fiber transmission facilities to reduce copper loop length in several portions of the service area,” it said. These deferrals will keep “vital services” from subscribers, and limit cost efficiencies, NCTC said. A waiver also would promote the policy goals of improved voice service, ubiquitous broadband availability, and greater telecom provider efficiency and productivity, NCTC said.