Adak Eagle Enterprises and its subsidiary, Windy City...
Adak Eagle Enterprises and its subsidiary, Windy City Cellular, made an impassioned plea to FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly in a meeting Wednesday, said an ex parte filing posted Friday (http://bit.ly/1h7JCHJ). “With winter fast approaching and the already harsh weather on…
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.
Adak Island [Alaska] becoming even more severe, it is crucial that the remote Adak community be able to continue relying on the essential services provided by AEE and WCC,” the filing said. The telco and carrier have only six more weeks until their interim funding runs out. “It is up to the Commission to make clear that it did not intend for the USF/[intercarrier compensation] Transformation Order to result in remote communities losing wireline service (service built with tax payer-funded RUS loans), losing broadband service, losing 911 service, and losing most of their wireless service,” the filing said. “The Commission did not intend to discourage investment” or “intend for communities that have working communications systems go dark.” AEE and WCC understand that “O'Rielly was not responsible for the 84% flash-cut to WCC’s funding and the rapid phasedown of AEE’s funding that took effect in early 2012,” they said. They are merely “hopeful that he will take this opportunity to help correct the Commission’s course before the companies are forced into bankruptcy and the remote Adak community is left without its only broadband service, only wireline service, only working 911 service, and most comprehensive wireless service -- a service that regularly saves lives."