Verizon Pushes 100/20 Mbps Tier for CAF Auction Subsidizing Fixed Services
Verizon pressed a 100/20 Mbps tier as it and others lobbied the FCC on bidding weights for the different broadband performance tiers in the agency's planned Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II reverse auction of subsidies for fixed broadband/voice services.…
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Because of limited funds and related tradeoffs, Verizon said the FCC should design the rules "to achieve reasonably fast speeds, emphasizing the above-baseline tier, to a reasonable percentage of eligible locations." The FCC plans four tiers: minimum (above 10/1 Mbps), baseline (above 25/3 Mbps), above baseline (100/20 Mbps) and gigabit (1 Gbps/500 Mbps), with the first two having usage allowances of at least 150 gigabytes per month and the latter two having unlimited usage. The FCC should seek to minimize the number of eligible locations that are unsubsidized, but its speed and coverage goals can best be achieved if the costliest locations are addressed by a Remote Areas Fund, said a Verizon filing posted Thursday in docket 10-90 on a meeting with aides to all three commissioners. It said the FCC "should adopt a smaller differential between the weights for the above-baseline and gigabit tiers than between the weights for the below-baseline and baseline tiers or baseline and above-baseline tiers. A small differential between the above-baseline and gigabit weights is warranted because high bids for the costliest tier will deplete the auction budget more rapidly and because there are few subscribers for gigabit services even in urban areas," it said. An ITTA filing said the agency should promote "breadth of deployment" and urged little differentiation in the bid weights accorded the four tiers, which it said would also challenge bidders seeking to offer higher speeds to do so as economically as possible. It recommended a significant penalty for high-latency services. The American Cable Association (here), Hughes Network Systems (here) and ViaSat (here) pushed previous arguments. The FCC plans to consider a CAF II auction order at commissioners' Feb. 23 meeting (see 1702020051).