NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association in a recent discussion and follow-up letter with the FCC, responded to a proposal made by USTelecom – The Broadband Association on behalf of Price Cap carriers in the Commission’s 8YY Access Charge Reform Docket.
USTelecom had suggested that a “sufficient recovery mechanism” for Price Cap companies would be to increase the rate ceiling by up to $ 1.00 per month, allowing them to recover that additional amount through access recovery charges.
NTCA said in its letter to the FCC that it, “takes no position with respect to the proposal…as applied to price cap carriers specifically and exclusively.” But rather it, “should not be extended…to rate of return local exchange carriers (RLECs) that are already subject to different cost recovery mechanisms today.”
“If extended to RLECs,” the letter continued, “it would result in the transfer of a material portion of such cost recovery directly to RLECs’ rural consumers in the form of increased effective rates for local voice service.”
Once again, NTCA stands tall for the nation’s small, rural ILECs, and their long-standing mandate to provide universal service at affordable rates.
