NTCA, USTelecom, WTA Execs Oppose RDOF Bill to Cut ETC Designation Rule
USTelecom, NTCA and WTA executives urged leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee not to advance legislation aimed at awarding some Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I funding before the auction’s late October start date. The executives don’t mention the “proposed…
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legislation” by name but decry its bid to eliminate a requirement companies be designated eligible telecom carriers to qualify for RDOF money. A revised version of the Rural Broadband Acceleration Act (HR-7447/S-4201) would do that. “To the extent some believe the ETC designation process may be outdated or in need of recalibration to better reflect a broadband world, this is a policy discussion worth having -- and reasonable minds may disagree,” said NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield, USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter and WTA Executive Vice President Kelly Worthington in a letter to Commerce Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member Maria Cantwell. “But that discussion should neither alter nor undermine the course of an auction process that is already substantially underway, nor should it do so in a way that benefits only some program participants.” HR-7447/S-4201 has drawn opposition from others, including NARUC President Brandon Presley (see 2007090051).