Puerto Rico Officials Seek More Federal Help
The federal government should support Puerto Rico to the same extent it has for past hurricane victims in the 50 states, said Puerto Rico Telecommunications Regulatory Board (PRTRB) President Sandra Torres in an interview last week. Torres updated FCC commissioners and staff in Tuesday and Wednesday meetings in Washington (see 1801250041). Telecom infrastructure restoration continues in Puerto Rico, but funding is also needed to advance the territory’s connectivity, she said. More can be done to help Puerto Ricans, said an official from the territory's telecom industry association.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
“We are part of the United States of America and we are expecting to receive the same treatment as those people received in the past,” Torres said. Puerto Rico’s telecom infrastructure has been at a disadvantage compared with other parts of the country, she said. The island needs funding not only for recovery, but for building resilient infrastructure in unserved rural areas, Torres said. That’s critical to economic development in the territory, she said. Rural places had little to no connectivity even before Maria, Torres said.
FCC meetings were productive, with commissioners saying they want to support Puerto Rico, Torres said. The PRTRB president said 92 percent of cellsites and 67 percent of wireline services are restored, but while most people can call or send text messages, data remains a challenge. Also, extensive power outages continue, including at her agency’s headquarters, she said. Torres supports advance release of $76 million in USF disbursements to rebuild infrastructure. There could be another hurricane and “we need to be prepared,” she said. FCC, the PRTRB and industry officials plan to meet in the next 60 days to establish a recovery plan, determine how much money is needed and where it will come from, she said.
"The FCC has acted positively to help Puerto Rico," but "more can be done," given that "over a million American citizens are still without electric power" and have "limited" telecom access, emailed Luis Romero, Puerto Rico Telecommunications Industry Alliance vice president. "New funds can be assigned by the FCC without an NPRM or other formal process to create an emergency fund. A petition has been submitted and the FCC could approve such infrastructure restoration funds. Likewise, since 60%+ of the telecom infrastructure has been running on emergency generators for the past 128 days, the FCC could provide funds for reimbursement of the additional expense to buy diesel and power plants until the commercial power is restored. As an alternative, funds could be provided for alternative energy systems." The FCC also could expedite microwave radio licensing or waive some rules so "service can be restored immediately to the many towns without" it, he added.
Puerto Rico has 7.4 percent of cellsites out of service, and the U.S. Virgin Islands 12.8 percent down, said an FCC Hurricane Maria update Friday. “Since there are widespread power outages in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the FCC has received reports that large percentages of consumers are without either cable services or wireline service,” it said: “While the companies have been actively restoring service, the majority of their customers do not have service because commercial power is not yet available in their respective areas.”
FCC staff worked closely with Puerto Rico TV stations to move them to new channels from the incentive auction, Chairman Ajit Pai said in a Jan. 19 letter to Rep. Jenniffer González-Colón, R-Puerto Rico, posted Friday in docket 18-5. The Media Bureau granted requests of 20 stations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to speed construction of broadcast facilities on post-auction channels (see 1801110061), and they may begin testing July 1, Pai said. “Granting these waivers prevents wasteful duplicative construction and equipment costs for stations whose towers and equipment were devastated.” It gives stations access to TV Broadcaster Reimbursement Fund support “for the portions of the recovery costs attributable to their post-incentive auction relocation,” he said.
Pai also wrote back in to Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., about Hurricane Irma recovery in Monroe County. “The service providers have assured the Bureau that internet services impacted by Hurricane Irma have been restored and that no residual outages remain,” Pai said in the Jan. 19 letter posted Friday to docket 18-51.