Consumer Groups Urge CPUC to Freeze State-Funded Broadband Rates
Disregard big ISPs’ objections to fixing monthly rates for broadband plans funded by the California Public Utilities Commission’s $2 billion last-mile federal funding account, said consumer groups in reply comments Monday in docket R.20-09-001. Phone and cable companies last week…
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opposed ideas in a proposed decision, up for vote at the CPUC's April 7 meeting, to freeze prices for FFA-funded plans for 10 years and to require recipients to offer $40 monthly plans with 50 Mbps symmetrical speeds for the lifetime of the infrastructure (see 2203230051). “Providers’ arguments engage in a great deal of handwringing about the risk that they will not be able to afford to deploy broadband infrastructure because set prices would not allow them to respond to future market and financial conditions,” replied Center for Accessible Technology: But no such objections were raised by governments, nonprofits or cooperatives seeking grants. “It appears that incumbents’ primary concern about the low-cost option is that it might cut into their profits,” the consumer group added. Discarding the 10-year price freeze “could harm consumers as it opens the door to hiking prices … and making broadband service unaffordable,” said the CPUC’s independent Public Advocates Office. U.S. Treasury Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds rules “do not preclude states from adopting any specific pricing commitment,” and capping a required low-price plan at $40 monthly isn’t rate regulation, commented The Utility Reform Network.