ACA Pushing FTTP Option for CAF
Fiber to the Premises networks are the best route for a rural broadband build-out under Connect America Fund Phase II, the American Cable Association said in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in FCC docket 10-90. While the agency has…
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been supporting LECs in bringing broadband to such underserved, high-cost areas, FTTP networks "have much lower operating costs, enable providers to offer virtually any service, and provide a relatively easy path for upgrades -- all of which present the possibility of diminishing, if not eliminating, the need for subsidies beyond the initial term," ACA said. With the benefits of FTTP networks evident in urban areas, "rural consumers and areas in which they live and work should not be left behind," ACA said. But FTTP networks are more expensive to install than upgrading fiber/copper DSL networks, meaning FTTP is at a disadvantage in CAF competitive bidding unless the process "gives weight to the value of a cost-effective and fiscally responsible FTTP network build," ACA said. The association said the agency should give FTTP bids priority in cases where it "is clearly superior to bids for lower speed broadband." It said that means bidders offering to build FTTP networks to 90 percent of the locations in the eligible unserved areas in the bid, bidding no more than the reserve price for those areas, and committing that they will seek no further CAF financial support after 10 years. The commission also should establish a cost-per-location limit above which fiber would be deemed too expensive and not support FTTP in those areas, ACA said.