RWA Details Alleged Problems With Rip-and-Replace Program
Rural Wireless Association officials urged the FCC to accelerate reimbursements for removing unsecure equipment from carrier networks, in a meeting with Wireline Bureau staff. “RWA encouraged the FCC to find ways to expedite the reimbursement process” and “reported that at…
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the rate invoices are being processed, it will take approximately 17 years to finish the Reimbursement Program,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-89. RWA detailed what it claims are problems with the rip-and-replace program. “When a modification request is submitted, the entire application is locked, even when the modification is unrelated to certain aspects of the application,” the group said. “There have been significant delays in reviewing submitted invoices, with instances of over 30 days before an invoice even gets picked up for an initial review” and carriers are having difficulty getting questions answered, RWA said: “It appears to RWA’s members participating in the Reimbursement Program, that the Fund Administrator is severely understaffed and needs more help to administer this complex program in a timely fashion.”