The Regulatory Mix, TMI’s daily blog of regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court, issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of a TMI Regulatory Bulletin.
TELECOM
FCC
The FCC has issued an order clarifying the obligations of recipients of Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase I frozen support. The FCC said that carriers may use their frozen high-cost support either to recover the costs of past network upgrades to extend broadband-capable networks in areas substantially unserved by an unsubsidized competitor, to maintain and operate existing networks in such areas, or a combination of the two. Price cap carriers are not required to use one-third of their frozen support for new capital investment occurring in 2013.
The FCC also clarified that: (1) the obligation to use frozen high-cost support for broadband-capable networks in areas substantially unserved by an unsubsidized competitor applies to carriers at the holding company level; and (2) the required certification concerning the use of transitional intercarrier compensation replacement CAF support for broadband-capable networks in areas substantially unserved by an unsubsidized competitor is to be made at the holding company level. Finally, the FCC clarified that the interstate access support for which each carrier was eligible in 2011 should be implemented as a frozen per-line amount in calculating subscriber line charges. Read the Order here
